Hallelujah, yes, finally a bed tax. As a Byron Shire ratepayer for 30 years, I have been feeling deeply embarrassed to welcome overseas visitors here.
Substandard potholed roads, toilet blocks below Third World standards, a Council struggling to maintain infrastructure (flooding, landslides) affected by natural disasters, lack of public transport – the list goes on.
There is not enough money for our poor Council to attend to our bare necessities. And I’m pissed off with the NSW government expecting us to finance their tourism drive capitalising on Byron’s outstanding beauty and welcoming two million visitors.
Every council along the North and Baltic seas in Germany has been raising a ‘Kurtaxe’ for more than 100 years.
Their amenities are impeccable: groomed beaches, clean toilets and showers, bicycle paths, beach promenades, ample parking and immaculate roads. Isn’t it about time to move the Byron Shire into the 21st century? Bed tax? Yes, bring it on!
Horst Tietze, Montecollum
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. 
