Council destroying Byron’s attractive culture

I am completely amazed by the Byron Shire Council’s backflip on going ahead with paid parking in the central Byron area.

This will spell the end, the death knoll of the Byron culture we have all come to know and love, that culture which is all embracing and inclusive, encouraging participation of all people.

Our surfing and travelling community who bring so much colour and diversity to Byron will be excluded from this area.

They will no longer be able to afford to park there so they will find other locations.

Is this what you want Byron council? To be just like any other heartless cash centred tourist location on the coast?

I am not a Byron resident, but live just outside the shire boundary. My family and friends spend a lot of time and money in casual visits to Byron township every week to enjoy its many businesses and colourful street life.

That is the magic and that is what you seek to destroy. My costs will go up substantially as I am not a ratepayer, but my money goes to support Byron as much as any ratepayer.

Your callous disregard for the Byron Markets that bring so many people into Byron every month is again extraordinarily short sighted.

Do you want them to operate on a car park of black bitumen? I don’t think so, so you will push them further out of Byron and out of existence.

I urge you to reconsider this decision in the interests of the community, its people and its ongoing unique charm.

If you want to consider ways of raising money by paid parking, which I fully recognise is required to maintain some of the badly deteriorating roads, then target just the peak times of festivals, Christmas and Easter where most of your residents and close friends avoid anyway.

But please, please allow the people of Byron to freely reclaim their town in between these times.

Steve Mitchell, Newrybar