https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F2QGKb_TAw
A new hip-hop video made in and around Byron Bay contrasts the devastating effects of binge drinking and alcohol-fuelled violence with scenes of people enjoying the natural environment, the beach and the bush.
Titled What are you doing to yourself in Byron Bay? the locally written, filmed and produced clip was funded by the Attorney-General’s and Justice department as part of Byron Shire Council’s Safe Nights in Byron Bay initiative.
‘We gotta cringe the binge because it’s getting dark in Byron Bay. Violence solves nothing, yeah, that’s all we’re really here to say,’ the rappers chant to images of violence, vomiting, bleeding and drunk young people, some of them passed out on the street.
The graphic video will not please everyone but it is certain to appeal to its target audience and has got the thumbs up from Byron mayor Simon Richardson.
‘The video looks great and really highlights the dangers of binge drinking in Byron,’ Cr Richardson said,
‘Byron Bay’s reputation has had a bit of a battering this year and the aim of this campaign is to create more awareness among locals and visitors of the consequences of their behaviour when binge drinking’.
Other parts of the campaign include a Friday and Saturday night bus service for late-night revellers up until January 27 and the creation of alcohol-free zones within Byron township.
‘The uptake of the late-night bus has been great and numbers are increasing each week. Police have reported that the new Alcohol-Free Area signage is having an effect and making it easier for them to enforce [laws against] people drinking in the wrong areas,’ Mayor Richardson said.
‘They’re preventive strategies and that’s where we want to put our energy, rather than everyone having to pick up the pieces when things go wrong,’ he added.
Council says the aim of the project is to reduce alcohol-related violence in the Bay’s hotspots on Friday and Saturday nights by June 30, 2014. Statistics and data will be correlated to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategic initiatives.
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