Plans to revamp and restore the Byron Bay foreshore from Fishheads to the Beach Cafe are a step closer to reality, after Byron Shire Council passed its concept plan for the famous stretch last week.
After years of planning, debate and consultation, councillors unanimously approved the Byron Bay Foreshore Concept Plan at last week’s meeting.
Main Beach carpark decision deferred
While the plan remains silent on the future of the oceanfront carpark, it sets out several priority actions including badly-needed new amenities and a redeveloped playground in Apex Park, and a new network of accessible footpaths stretching the length of the foreshore.
‘There’s so many things to love about that area, but the consensus from many was that it had been loved to death and that we should enhance it,’ Byron Mayor, Sarah Ndiaye, said during last week’s meeting.
‘This is about making the stretch more beautiful…better access for people with disabilities and for families … and making it more user-friendly, open it up a bit.’
Club access raised
Unsurprisingly, the plans had some contentious elements.
The meeting heard that the Byron Bay Surf Lifesaving Club had expressed concern about how the redeveloped amenities block would affect their ability to access the beach in an emergency and to get boats to, and from, the water.
In an effort to address this, councillors agreed to conduct a separate public exhibition process for the new toilet block once the specific design had been finalised.
Mayor Ndiaye also added a clause in a bid to minimise the amount of concrete being used for the network of footpaths and to limit the use of e-bikes in key pedestrian areas.
E-bike issues
‘I do have concerns just about the breadth of concrete in some areas for the pathways,’ Cr Ndiaye said.
‘I think what we’ve seen with the Lighthouse Road and discussions about that – there’s a big issue with people using e-bikes.
‘My preference would be to push those [e-bikes] closer to the road area rather than the foreshore and perhaps have a look at how people use that space at the moment.’
While the future of the beachfront carpark was not included in the concept plans, it evidently remains a key (if not the key) component of the foreshore from the public’s perspective.
Council is considering two main options in relation to the site: 1) Retaining the oceanfront parking while providing open space and access improvements, or 2) Removing 80-plus car spaces from the beachfront and relocating them to a new multi-storey carpark behind the pool. In the latter option, the current carpark would become an extensive oceanfront green space.
Council’s consultation process, which included a survey of around 800 residents, found that each of the two options received around 45 per cent support, while the remaining 10 per cent said they were ‘unsure’.
A decision on the carpark has been deferred until a decision on foreshore protection infrastructure has been made and further public consultation conducted.
At last week’s meeting local surf legend Rusty Miller added his voice to the calls for the carpark to remain as it is.
Surf check spot
‘My little surf check, which I’ve done for many years, is driving to the Main Beach parking lot, turning across in front of Fishheads, driving to the end and slowly doing a loop,’ Mr Miller said,
‘I can tell in one slow loop how the surf is going. I can tell where the swell’s coming from, I can see the texture of the water and all the surfing information I need. Once I see that I can set my day’.
‘I would propose that it all be left as-is, because I think it’s a very good system. People drive along and do a little circle. They don’t hang out, they just do a little surf check and move on.’
‘I think Byron is a happier place when people get to have their morning surf.’
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