I am writing to object to Byron Shire Council’s intention to revoke the clothing-optional status of Tyagarah Beach.
I grew up in neighbouring Ballina Shire and have spent many, many years visiting and enjoying Byron Bay. I continue this regular pilgrimage despite now living in Queensland for work. As a young gay man, closeted and hiding from the realities of my ultra-conservative surrounds in rural northern NSW, Byron Bay was an oasis of tolerance and freedom.
The clothing-optional status of Tyagarah has a long-established cultural significance stretching back decades. It has its roots in the counterculture that once thrived in Byron Bay.
I fear the conservative, and often repressive, social strictures of the surrounding communities are steadily encroaching on Byron Bay, progressively sanitising what made the town the mecca it now is.
Byron Bay is not unique in its natural beauty. Nor is it sophisticated or cosmopolitan in its restaurant and hospitality offering. There are dozens of equally beautiful, more affordable and more accessible towns up and down the east coast of NSW.
What makes Byron Bay unique is its counterculture roots that give it status, give it a vibe, give it the power to make positive memories that move past a happy snap on a lovely beach. It attracts artists and artisans, it generates a pseudo-alternative economy and culture that is unique in NSW and certainly rare in Australia.
I would hope that Byron Shire Council understands this cultural significance and the additional obligations it places on its representatives. In addition to ensuring the smooth runnings of key services, Byron Shire Council has a duty to preserve and defend the many histories and cultures that Byron Bay has nurtured.
The clothing-optional status of Tyagarah and other naturist spaces in the area symbolises and embodies Byron’s unique cultural status. Equally, revoking the protection these spaces rightly deserve sends a powerful cultural message that damages the global reputation of Byron Bay as a unique cultural oasis. But more importantly, it says to the countercultures that have called the region home for half a century that ‘you are no longer welcome here’.
While I understand there are challenges in terms of the regulatory framework and jurisdiction between Council and state government in terms of who has authority to declare rules for what areas, it is imperative that if Tyagarah’s clothing-optional status is revoked Council finds an alternative for the community.
Byron Shire Council must halt the steady march of banality that conservative mindsets have sought to force for decades in the Shire. It must safeguard the cultural practices that have made the town unique – or, simply, Byron Bay will become just another pretty coastal town with little to offer but sand and expensive fish and chips.
Like wow reading this …
Thank you so much for saying it as it is.
Community spirit at its finest.
Perhaps we need more of our community speaking out.
Thank you so much.
I absolutely agree.
I grew up here as a kid in the end of the 80s until just after the beginning of the millennium. New Years 2000 is, in my opinion, when Byron truly started going to shit. It became famous for being “the first place in the world to see the new millennium’ and the town was completely trashed.
I moved away for work and opportunities and kept moving back for a year or two here and there. Now I am back and frankly, it has become what I call yogified. By that I refer to the example of how the practice of yoga is about connection, spirituality and sharing. Yet it seems like you have to buy into the ‘culture’. You need to be expensive and look a certain way. It has become completely commercialised and the teachers themselves have become repellent in their piousness and pretend asceticism. With me so far?
Well, that’s Byron now. A pretend town with a dying community where the core people were those that were the true yogis, the ones that grew food and traded and gave and exchanged. The ones that lived off the earth and spirit and crucially, don’t have money.
Thank you, Troy, for speaking out clearly. It’s saddening to see the death of the fundamental principles that made Byron exactly what it was, and open, beautiful and welcoming place that only asked for one thing:
Respect for all.
Always two sides to a story. My (female) partner and I have visited this beach a few times and both of us are fed up with the unwanted approaches by gay men, to the point where we no longer visit. If it was just a nude beach, I am all for it. Unfortunately it has become a cruise location for gay men and this has made it uncomfortable for people like us. This is in addition to the “creepy guys” in the dunes that make the whole place not how some would like it portrayed. It is a shame really, as it is a beautiful location but not where we would like to be anymore.
Well written Troy.
Shaun
100% agree with comments above , Byron for me was so chilled out in the 80’s as a kid visiting from Sydney , and the 90’s as a teenager camping @ Broken head , then later in the 90’s at the arts factory when visiting , It had a chilled out vibe , almost all shops were locals who had independent outlets , stuff you would not find in the big cities , now it’s all commercial crap , same as all the big name clothing brands .
People are no longer chilled out so much , The problem started when the M1 was connected to Byron , too many visitors who do not appreciate what Byron is all about , I think even if the nude beach is closed , I will still have my daily nude swim just north of elements , . Remember when elements opened they pressured council to get Police to issue fines for nude bathing ?
What right does a big resort owner have to tell us how we can use the beach , they are trying to change our ways to suit their posh city guests who might be offended by nudists .
What made and makes Byron special , it that it was different than other places . we need to keep some of what made it special, and resist the pressures from Billionares who think they can change our town with their influence on council !!!!!
Umm, just a minor point…. It’s not Council wanting to change the status quo, it’s National Parks
council also wanted to close it a while back under our last Mayor , you will find they work closely with national parks on a lot of issues
Some minutes from the council meeting 22 Feb this year Quote ” In the agenda for the February 22 council meeting, council says it has no jurisdiction over the nature reserve and therefore “should rightly, through resolution, revoke its 1998 decision to designate the section of Tyagarah beach clothes optional”. Our council have become so beige and pathetic . they DO NOT represent the local community anymore.
Seems to me like Elements of Byron have been not happy with the nude beach for quite some time , remember when they first opened they pressured council and local police to issue fines for nude bathing , our police are already under resourced , they can only do RBT’s from what i see.
Now that Elements is destroying the beautiful parklands that lead up to Belongil beach and north , to build 9 Large housing plots and more holiday accomodation , they must be happy to see the nude beach being closed. Wasn’t 200-300 cabins enough for them !!!
I will still have my daily nude swim ., I WILL NOT let some billionare resort owner QLD’er or council , or national parks tell me what I can and can’t do , when it has been legal since the 90’s.