Byron Bay Accommodation

Byron Bay seeks holiday-home cull

Byron Shire Council is at it again. Six months after suggesting a tourism toll for those who want to enter the town, the council now wants to cull holiday rental stock by limiting home owners and investors to letting their houses to just eight weeks a year.

The plan has caused a wave of protest from the real estate agents who say it will “gut” the town’s gilt-edged tourism industry, with almost all of the estimated 600 homes available for letting affected in some way.

Byron’s Mayor, Jan Barham, confirmed that under the plan home owners would be forced to gain development approval and have their properties managed by licensed agents.

Apart from the inevitable council fees, owners and agents may be forced to provide private security services to respond to late-night complaints. Just how the council would police the eight-week limit is unresolved.

Councillor Barham said the council had legal advice that short-term rental in residential areas was illegal under the State Planning Act, which had ramifications for tens of thousands of owners who let their properties in towns and villages up and down the NSW coast.

“We’ve been wrestling with this problem for the past three years, ever since 2002, when summer tourism numbers went overboard because of the effect of September 11 and the collapse of Ansett. It has got out of hand and we have to do something about it.”

A Byron Bay real estate agent, Chris Hanley, said the council was exacerbating rather than solving the problem.

“We live in an unusual area at the best of times. I’ve been here a long time and watched the ebb and flow, but this decision probably takes the cake. It’s the silliest one ever taken by a council,” he said. “They are trying to fix a problem by amputating a limb.

“I’m telling you that everyone will choose the same eight weeks [summer holidays]. The town will be chockers in the prime eight weeks and in the other 44 weeks will be deserted.”

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Planning, Craig Knowles, confirmed Byron Bay’s advice:

“Conducting a commercial activity in a residential area is, demonstrably, against the law. It is up to the councils to decide how they will respond, because it is not appropriate to have a one-size-fits-all approach. Byron Shire has obviously responded. Others may choose not to respond at all.”

By Robert Wainwright
Sydney Morning Herald

Posted: Wednesday, July 20th, 2005 Under: News. | Home |

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