$1m boost to make Byron safer for women and girls

A million-dollar makeover aimed at making Byron Bay safer and more welcoming for women and girls is on the way, with young local women helping to shape what the improvements will look like.

Byron Council has secured a $1 million grant from Transport for NSW through the second round of its Safer Cities: Her Way program.

The funding will be used to improve public spaces in Byron Bay with a particular focus on how women and girls experience the town and what changes could make them feel safer and more comfortable moving around it.

Importantly, the project won’t simply be designed for young women. Council says they will be directly involved in helping design the improvements through a co-design process.

The grant follows earlier work with local teenage girls exploring their experiences of public spaces in Byron Bay and identifying ways those spaces could be made safer and more welcoming.

The broader Safer Cities: Her Way program focuses on relatively practical changes to public spaces, including lighting, landscaping, pedestrian connections and other design elements that can influence whether people feel comfortable using an area.

For Byron, the funding provides an opportunity to look at familiar streets and public spaces through a different set of eyes, particularly after dark.

Council says the project will build on work already undertaken with young women and girls, with further community engagement to help determine where and how the $1 million should be spent.

The funding comes through the NSW government’s Safer Cities program, which aims to improve perceptions of safety for women, girls and gender-diverse people in public spaces.

More details about the Byron Bay project, including opportunities for the community to get involved, are expected as planning progresses.