Tyagarah Beach will remain a clothes-optional location until at least June 30, after the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) bowed to a concerted campaign from the local naturist community.
But calls are also growing for the clothes-optional designation to be permanently revoked for safety reasons, with some residents saying they have continued to be subjected to lewd and inappropriate sexual behaviour at the beach.
Hornet’s nest
The NPWS kicked over a hornet’s nest two weeks ago, when it announced that Tyagarah would no longer be a nudist beach because it was not in keeping with the department’s policies and values.
This followed a land mapping survey undertaken by NPWS, which found that a large area of the beach was under the jurisdiction of NPWS, rather than Council.
The decision, which was made without any consultation, drew an outraged reaction from local naturists who undertook a large nude protest at the beach on February 18, and launched an online petition which now has more than 6,200 signatures.
In response, NPWS issued a memo to Byron Council stating that it wished to delay the implementation date of its decision until June 30, so that it could ‘undertake further consultation with user groups at Tyagarah’.
With any say that Byron Council may have had in relation to the beach now effectively stripped away by the NPWS, councillors were left with little choice other than to accept the decision at last week’s meeting.
They passed a resolution to this effect, and made a commitment to work with the NPWS to ‘remove or amend site signage, and update social media information, and have the changes implemented by June 30, 2024’.
Mayor Michael Lyon expressed frustration about the way the NPWS had conducted itself in relation to the matter, stating that Tyagarah residents deserved safety and certainty.
‘In my view we should go and take those signs [saying “nude bating permitted”] down tomorrow,’ Cr Lyon said.
‘In the meeting [we had] with NPWS, they were all over the place. They indicated that if we did that it would be trespassing.
‘That’s an indication of where this is all coming from, the politics of it. Originally it’s like “it’s our land, shut it [the nudist beach]”… then it was “oh God we’re getting lobbied…throw us a lifeline”.
‘I don’t want to throw them a lifeline, but anyway, there you go: June 30, there’s your lifeline. From our point of view, [come] June 30, the signs get removed.’
Antisocial and inappropriate behaviour has consistently emerged as an issue ever since Tyagarah Beach was first given a clothes-optional designation back in 1998.
Earlier, during the public access section of the meeting, representatives from both sides of the debate over the beach passionately expressed their views.
Ebony Eagles, who has recently moved to Tyagarah with her family, said that she and her children had been exposed to ‘uncomfortable and potentially dangerous encounters’.
‘On two separate occasions my partner was riding into Byron Bay on his bike with my daughter,’ Ms Eagles said, through a stream of tears.
‘On both occasions, rather coincidentally timed, a man closely crossed their paths, one with a semi-erect penis, and one with a full-blown erection.
‘I no longer walk alone on this beach, and I don’t take my children on the beach without the support of my partner, and needless to say he doesn’t ride his bike into Byron Bay.’
But local naturist, Jessa O’Brien, described a very different experience.
Ms O’Brien said she had felt safe attending the beach naked on her own, and that it had a strong sense of community. ‘As a body positive advocate, another significant aspect that I feel is missing from the conversation is the positive role that clothing-optional beaches play in the wider community,’ she said.
‘As a female living in a world that upholds unrealistic body image standards and hyper-sexualises the human body, getting involved with the naturist community and having the option to enjoy non-sexual social nudity has been profoundly healing’.
‘Getting naked shouldn’t be a crime.’
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