While Tyagarah residents have welcomed the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) decision to close the Clothing-Optional Area (COA) within Tyagarah Nature Reserve by August 30, naturists who use the beach have contested the decision-making process, and claim concerns around public safety are not supported by police statistics.
A NPWS senior media advisor said in a media statement the decision followed ‘extensive consultation and careful consideration’.
They said, ‘A recent stakeholder workshop was held during March, which included representatives from NSW Police, local businesses, community associations and naturist groups, and no viable alternative locations for the COA were identified’.
‘NPWS has requested that Byron Shire Council extend the permissibility of the COA from June 30 2024 to August 30, which will allow appropriate notification for the naturist community’.
According to the NPWS’s ‘decision brief’, both Mayor Michael Lyon and General Manager Mark Arnold ‘support ceasing the COA’.
President of Northern Rivers Naturists, Bradley Benham, told The Echo the NPWS claim of ‘extensive consultation’ was just a ‘single two-hour roundtable in March’.
Benham also rejected ongoing concerns regarding public safety as a reason to close the beach.
He said, ‘Concerns regarding public safety are not supported by police statistics’.
‘Northern Rivers Naturists requests that the section of beach from the south boundary of Tyagarah Nature Reserve to 200m north of the Bayshore Drive access track be reinstated as a legal co-optional clothing beach’.
‘This north Byron/Sunrise Beach section was part of the legal co-beach designated in 1998, and operated as such until 2018. This section is under Council management and not affected by the jurisdictional error over who manages the beach’.
Safety concerns
Gyan Moyes from the Tyagarah Community Association told The Echo the NPWS decision ‘shows a genuine concern for the safety of women and families’.
‘It is not only a win for those women who spoke out about the sexual violence towards them, but also a win for those who were too shattered and frightened to do so.
‘Byron Bay residents and visitors are traumatised and fed up with predatory behaviour associated with the clothing-optional area, occurring in the Tyagarah Nature Reserve and spilling out into nearby locations.
‘We are looking forward to working with residents, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and other stakeholders, to ensure the nature reserve and its beach become safe again’, Mr Moyes added.
Behaviour disputed
Yet naturist, Duncan James, disputes that predatory behaviour is still an issue for the area, telling The Echo naturists removed the ‘unwanted’ lewd behaviour on the beach around 2018, and police incident statistics for the area reflect that.
‘I believe the majority of beach users at Tyagarah go there to enjoy the beach respectfully, and this has always been the case’.
‘The statistics in the police report that has been published proves this to be the case. We sincerely believe Tyagarah is a safe, respectful place, where the people in the community can enjoy clothes-optional bathing.
‘There is a strong community of beach users who frequent the beach on a regular basis, they keep an eye on what happens on the beach. This community is the “happy place” for many, who often refer to each other as “family”.
‘Many established, lasting friendships have come from this place. It is extremely sad to hear that NPWS want to take such a special thing from so many law-abiding, community-focused individuals. The NPWS have mentioned that Tyagarah clothing-optional beach doesn’t fit in with their values.
‘We are yet to find out what their values are!
‘It honestly seems to me that the people who appear to be making all these allegations and have control of the fate of Tyagarah Beach are those who don’t actually frequent the beach.
Problems elsewhere
‘Maybe they should start paying attention to all the other beaches in the shire, and problems associated there, instead of focusing all this negative energy on just one particular beach, a beach that remains one of the last alternative spaces for our community’, Mr James said.
‘I honestly think its discrimination. I also think it will be bad for Byron’s already waning reputation as an alternate, free-spirited destination’.
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