Victims of Holiday Letting (VOHL) members are disappointed to see fear-mongering, full-page advertisements in The Echo that oppose Byron Council’s proposal for a 90-day cap for short-term rental accommodation (STRA) in certain residential areas. VOHL challenges the accuracy of statements made in the advertisements.
The advertisements are attributed to a shadowy group under the website name, ‘Byron Deserves Better’ (BDB). This group appears to consist of self-interested owners of Byron STRA management businesses and a few local business owners.
VOHL is appalled that this well-funded group has appropriated a slogan used by a genuine and legitimate grassroots residents’ group that campaigned against the West Byron mega-development.
The BDB website, conveniently, does not mention Council’s proposal for 365-day precincts in the ‘tourist hotspots’ of Suffolk Park, Byron Bay, and Brunswick Heads, where the majority of STRAs are located. Business as usual.
In the most recent BDB advertisement, two fear-mongering statements are made that are not attributed to any research. Research should be accurate, reliable, and independent of vested interests.
BDB states: ‘1,448 jobs lost’ and ‘$267million ripped out of the Byron economy’. VOHL challenges this group to produce a link to any independent research that states these figures. Otherwise, the public can draw the conclusion that the figures are false.
In direct contrast to these statements is data from the 194-page, independent Urbis report in Council’s current exhibition on STRA. This report states that under Council’s 90-day cap proposal for certain areas:
1. There will be a low decrease in local employment, with ten fewer jobs up to 2027.
2. Moderate increase in retail spending up to 2027 growing at the rate of 5.9 per cent per annum.
3. Total revenue from non-hosted STRA is forecast to grow by three per cent per annum up to 2027.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
