A N O T H E R H I G H L E V E L D I S C U S S I O N PA P E R ! The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 37 #01 • June 15, 2022 • www.echo.net.au
Writers Festival returns, August 26 90-day cap on holiday letting moves closer Mia Armitage
Authors and readers rejoice – the Byron Writers Festival is set to return from August 26–28, and will be held at its new home, North Byron Parklands in Yelgun. Pictured are Emily Brugman (Program Manager), Shien Chee (Operations Manager), Aarna Hudson (Partnerships Co-ordinator), Tom Wolff, (Festival Administrator), and Anika Ebner (Communications Manager). See interview with new Artistic Director for the Byron Writers Festival, Zoë Pollock, on page 2. Photo Jeff ‘Writings On The Wall Since 1986’ Dawson
South Golden Beach drainage to get attention All councillors supported a motion at last week’s planning meeting to clarify drainage projects and available funding that would alleviate flooding in South Golden Beach, west of Capricornia Canal. Councillor Duncan Dey’s report also asks for staff to ‘investigate the sub-catchment of Marshalls Creek that drains through South Golden Beach west side into Capricornia Canal, to determine capacities of its sub-surface and overland drainage networks, especially in the downstream area (SGB).’ A flood pump system, similar to the one serving the east side, will
Byron High’s Winter Fest, June 23 ▶ p4
also be investigated. Cr Dey told the meeting the motion was a result of meeting with affected residents. A staff member also told the meeting that Council has applied for a $250,000 grant from the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) to undertake a Shire-wide detailed overland flowpath assessment. If successful, they said the assessment would identify problem drainage areas and possibly lead to the prioritisation of drainage network capital upgrades. The staff member added that they were informed by DPIE there
Bangalow Bowling Club mulls over its future ▶ p6
is now a special team who are assessing over 1,000 applications and they are trying to fast-track grant applications from councils. Cr Dey’s motion also asks staff to ‘inspect the floodgates in South Golden Beach, and carry out maintenance’, as well as, ‘consider in conjunction with the SES, appointing a local warden to inspect those floodgates when flood warnings are issued’. Staff have also been asked to address a ‘persistent sewer pump failure’ at the pump station near Elizabeth Street and set up communication with neighbours’.
Big mixed-use Suffolk DA before you, the public ▶ p8
The Byron Shire Council says it’s ‘one step closer’ to receiving government permission for a 90-day annual limit on short-term rental accommodation (STRA) in parts of the Shire. Reinstated planning minister, Anthony Roberts MP, originally invited Council to submit its proposal more than three years ago. The government, meanwhile, introduced a 180-day cap across most of the rest of NSW. Bureaucratic delays and an outsourced study of potential regulation limits on property owners left the Byron Shire without any effective regulation of dwellings, once used as homes but now used for unofficial small accommodation businesses, aside from a State register. The Urbis-contracted controversial study inevitably found negative economic impacts of the proposed 90-day cap, but was found by a peer review, commissioned by Council, to have used questionable methodology that failed to weigh stakeholders fairly. A majority of councillors, after winning electoral campaigns dominated by promises to tackle a declared local housing crisis, voted earlier this year to reject the Urbis report and continue lobbying for a 90-day cap. Councillors Mark Swivel and Alan Hunter were the only two to vote against. On Thursday afternoon, Council issued a media release saying it had made ‘significant progress’ on STRA policy. ‘The NSW Government’s Department of Planning approved a
North Coast News ▶ p11
Gateway Determination for a planning proposal to reduce the number of days of non-hosted short-term rental accommodation in parts of the Byron Shire from 180 days to 90 days,’ the statement read. Council said it could proceed to the next stage of public consultation on the proposal. But hopes of the new regulations facilitating the return of a flourishing permanent community to coastal areas of the Shire were unlikely to be met via the proposed version of STRA for Byron.
Short-term rental precincts Instead, unlimited holiday letting could continue in parts of Byron Bay, Suffolk Park and Brunswick Heads under the proposal, while a 90-day limit would apply in other areas. Council said it wanted to ‘mitigate the significant impacts of short-term rental accommodation on permanent rental housing supply, amenity, local character, and community, while still allowing for a diverse and sustainable base of tourist accommodation options to support the local economy’. Byron Shire Mayor, Michael Lyon, was quoted in the statement. ‘The more rental accommodation that is available for holiday letting, the less stock is there for people looking for long-term, secure housing,’ he said. Cr Lyon referred to the Urbis report, saying it clearly showed 90-day caps would return the largest amount of properties to the longterm pool. ▶ Continued on page 2
Local business matters ▶ p21
The art of healing ▶ p24
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