Plaque plan to honour developer

BYRON councillor Diana Woods has proposed that a plaque be placed on the new library to recognise the contribution of property developer Eric Freeman.

Cr Woods put the proposal to Byron councillors recently, to acknowledge Mr Freeman's gift of 10 hectares of land in Suffolk Park to Byron council in the early 1990s.

The parcel of land, next to Mr Freeman's development of the Tuckeroo estate at the end of McGregor St, was handed to the State Government for inclusion in the Arakwal National Park - part of a land swap arrangement with the Lands Department, in which the block on the corner of Lawson and Middleton Sts became available.

Cr Woods' motion to council was amended to become a resolution that council referred the question of selecting persons worthy of recognition via plaques at the site to the Library Project Reference Group, including Mr Freeman.

She said she was hopeful the proposal would be successful.

Mr Freeman had made a "massive contribution of land" which had enabled the library site to be freed, Cr Woods said.

"It was a very generous donation; we wouldn't have had the library site without it."

Mr Freeman had made a big contribution to the economy of the Shire, she said.