In the 1980s, the Byron Shire community came together to fight for height limits. They drew a line at nine metres, rejecting Gold Coast–style high-rise development on their beachfront. Instead, they backed environmental protection, sensitive design and a vision for something different.
That fight has never really ended. Ocean views and liquor licences remain a powerful lure. Time and again, developers buy up sites, demolish existing buildings and propose oversized projects that push beyond height limits and sidestep local planning controls.
Once again, locals are raising concerns about a development application (DA) for 2 Jonson Street, Byron Bay. This prominent beachfront corner site, opposite both the Byron Bay Pool and the Beach Hotel, sits within a high-pedestrian area. The proposal seeks to demolish the former Quicksilver surf shop, a contemporary coastal building that reflects the town’s character and complies with the Development Control Plan (DCP) and Local Environmental Plan (LEP).
In its place, the applicant proposes a far more intensive development. The new design exceeds height limits, removes approved retail and residential components, and increases the scale of the site to accommodate up to 670 patrons.
The zone objectives are clear: to provide retail, business and community uses that serve residents, workers and visitors, while supporting a vibrant local centre.
The previously approved development (DA 10.2022.29.1) comprised a modest 58-seat restaurant (272m²) that is less than 20 years old. It is now proposed to be replaced by a three-storey restaurant, bar, and entertainment venue with a basement, catering for 670 patrons and 20 staff, with no on-site parking, at an estimated cost of $14.18 million.
The application does not comply with the Byron LEP 2014 height controls. It states the building will reach 12.38 metres – 3.38 metres above the limit – with some elements exceeding this by up to 37.5 per cent, despite the DA claiming the ‘building has been designed so that its perception is that it does not exceed the height limit’.
Each breach sets a precedent. This DA not only breaches height controls but also sets a new precedent for exceeding the desired character of the area and introducing a bulk and scale that isn’t low key and doesn’t meet the NSW Coastal Design Guidelines (NSW CDG) requirements for development that doesn’t dominate the existing character.
The DA also doesn’t provide the required visual representations to identify the impact of the proposal in response to the adjacent Beach Hotel or as viewed from public spaces, being the adjacent Apex Park.
The provision of public art with this DA also defies the Coastal Design Guidelines by not providing the opportunity to celebrate and respect the connection with Traditional Custodians under 4.3.1e and 4.4.1e of the NSW CDG requirements.
‘Approving this proposal risks further eroding Byron Bay’s low-scale coastal character,’ said Brooke Crowle, convenor of People of Byron, a group of local businesses and residents.
No on-site parking
The development removes on-site parking, and proposes no replacement on-site parking, or bike parking relying instead on a financial contribution and public spaces. Tony Stante, Transport and Infrastructure (Community) Committee Member, says, ‘this represents a missed opportunity to deliver essential infrastructure within an already constrained CBD and busy foreshore’.
In addressing transport, the Traffic Impact Assessment states patrons will be ‘escorted safely to transport’. While this may sound adequate on paper, the reality is different. As Tony Stante notes, ‘multiple venues close simultaneously after midnight, creating high demand, with hundreds of patrons and workers needing to get home’.
The DA also seeks the partial removal of an existing footpath to create a loading bay with direct ground-floor access, including waste collection, within Bay Street. Unlike the currently approved DA, which remained within site boundaries, this proposal extends into public space. It also includes alfresco seating within the Jonson and Bay Street footpaths, further reducing the public domain.
‘This DA conflicts with the strategic intent of the Byron Bay Town Centre Masterplan, which prioritises public space, coastal character, sustainable development and community-led outcomes,’ said Ms Crowle.
People of Byron have also questioned why the proposal was not classified as ‘community significant’ by Byron Shire Council, aside from the voluntary planning agreement (VPA).
‘Given that Council’s Community Participation Plan identifies pubs and small bars as community significant, it is difficult to understand why a licensed venue of this scale – up to 674 patrons – would not meet that same threshold,’ Ms Crowle said.
‘It is my belief that most people would consider a high-capacity licensed venue, combined with variations to key planning controls that adjoins the foreshore and main pedestrian precinct, as having impacts that extend well beyond just the site, this affects public space, visual amenity and the broader town character,’ she said.
Make a submission on the BSC website https://datracker.byron.nsw.gov.au. Submissions on the DA close on 29 April. Late submission are often accepted online, or send it directly to your local councillors. Find your local councillors at: www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Council/Leadership/Mayor-Councillors.
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. 
