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Byron Shire
July 13, 2026

Byron Councillors make second push to end nude bathing at Tyagarah

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A group of Byron Shire councillors will attempt to reverse the recent decision to keep Tyagarah Beach ‘clothes optional’ when the council has its full meeting next week.

The councillors, including Mayor Simon Richardson (Greens), have put forward two motions which, if passed, would put an end to nude bathing at Tyagarah.

Instead, a 12-month clothes optional trial would be introduced on a stretch of beach in Byron Bay.

The proposed recision motion continues the ongoing saga over Tyagarah Beach, which has seen a long-running battle between naturists and a group of residents who are concerned about the ongoing instances of anti-social and illegal behaviour there.

At the last full council meeting on October 19 a motion to keep Tyagarah clothes optional was narrowly passed by five votes to three.

The motion included a plan to install up to 20 cameras to record vehicle registration and personal behaviour in the Tyagarah reserve.

Cr Richardson and councillors Paul Spooner (Labor) and Jan Hackett (Labor) are now attempting to overturn that decision.

If they are successful in that first step, the councillors will put forward a second motion to outlaw nude bathing at Tyagarah, and to introduce a 12-month trial of nude bathing on a stretch of beach in Byron Bay from The Wreck to Beaumont’s Beach House.



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