In the week after new year, Echonetdaily’s Sharon Shostak went down to Byron’s Main Beach to take a look at the most visible aspect of the problems the Bay faces. Here’s a recap.
Can community both survive and thrive in a growing tourism market? This is the underlying question being addressed at the Community Forum at the Byron Community Centre on Saturday.
Titled Strange Bedfellows: Making the Tourist/Resident Marriage work, the forum is to be presented by Byron Shire Council in conjunction with The Echo, The Byron Shire News and Bay-FM. While this event may be ground hog day for the yearly outrage and subsequent conversation about tourism, it’s breaking new ground for Bay-FM, who will transmit their first live broadcast of what is expected to be a lively and robust conversation.
Comedian and Echonetdaily contributor Mandy Nolan has led the charge, saying, ‘every year there is a very justifiable community outcry about the impacts of tourism, particularly in relation to safety issues around New Years Eve. There have been a lot of attempts to do something about it but it tends to fall away. I am hoping that this time we’ll take on the recommendations, create a vision and move towards creating a group that will advocate for the whole community. It’s not about being anti-tourism, it’s about considering the significant impacts and finding real ways we can not just manage and shape the growth of our town, but how the entire region can benefit, both business and non-business sectors.’
The Q&A-style forum will be moderated by ex-ABC journalist Mick O’Regan and will include Don Page MP, Jan Barham MLC, Simon Richardson (Byron mayor), Paul Waters (president Byron United), Tom Mooney (publican & Liquor Accord member) and Mandy Nolan as mother of five, and community advocate.
‘We won’t be addressing every single issue in detail, it’s impossible,’ says Nolan, ‘but we will try to move through most of the significant issues.’
The community is asking for action and accountability, as illustrated by BYS director Di Mahoney’s question: ‘Byron LGA has some of the worst alcohol-related crime statistics in NSW, and we also experience higher-than-average health issues such as youth binge drinking, car accidents and hospital presentations. This data is not great for the tourism industry, and given how this could affect tourism coming from important target groups like families etc, how much is the business community prepared to put into funding and supporting local community safety programs?’
Holiday letting, New Years Eve, bed tax, and the long-term vision for Byron are expected to be some of the issues on the agenda. Acting Inspector Saul Wiseman had originally agreed to appear on the panel but has since had to decline as Australia Day is one of the busiest days in his command.
In a conversation with Echonetdaily he provided some great short-term solutions for Byron’s immediate problems, recommending that council address ‘the environmental flow’ of the town’s streets, move the taxi rank to a bigger, well-lit area with security, and that liquor establishments fund a courtesy bus to ferry patrons out of the CBD. The problem with Byron, he believes, is that ‘people are loitering with nothing to do, and it’s a cauldron for disaster’. Acting Inspector Saul Wiseman’s recommendations for Byron Bay will be presented in his absence.
‘The future doesn’t just happen,’ says Nolan. ‘It is the end result of the choices and strategies we adopt today. I hope this forum is the first step in creating a more cohesive and sustainable long-term vision for the economic and social wellbeing of the Byron Shire.’
No admission charge, limited seating, so bring a cushion. Community Centre will broadcast into the foyer. Start 6pm with a 5.30pm warm-up by Mandy Nolan, who will audition new questions for the panel.
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