It was Councillor Mike Watterson in early 1982 who managed to get the first height limits for Byron Shire passed through Byron Shire Council (BSC) as the community fought against developers wanting to cover the Byron foreshore in high rises akin to the Gold Coast. Since then ‘not like the Gold Coast’ has been the catchcry of height-limiters in the town – but is it now a mere shibboleth?
The 1988 Local Environment Plan (LEP), established the 9m height limit over commercial and residential zonings and set the height definition by storeys being two for residential and three for Byron Bay town centre. Over time and legal challenges the LEP was revised to restrain height exceedances. The 2014 LEP confirmed the 9m height for low-density areas and formalised 11.5m for some of the commercial zones.
In 2002 and 2004 BSC staff recommended, and Council approved, height exceedances for the 6 Marvell Street and 89 Jonson Street development applications (DAs). Councillors then approved a height exceedance for 7 Carlyle Street in 2015, possibly because Council staff did not report to councillors at the time that the DA included a height exceedance, with the staff report stating that the height issues were complied with.
In an appeal to the Land and Environment Court (L&EC), the proponents of a 4 Marvell Street DA in 2017 argued those DAs set precedents for height breaches. Their DA was for a mixed-use building proposal comprising a 24-room hotel, a ground-floor restaurant, rooftop pool and bar above two ground-floor retail tenancies. The BSC lawyers argued that in fact this new DA itself would set a further precedent and that ‘approval of the development would encourage further height breaches in the area’. The L&EC approved the 4 Marvell St DA in 2019, with Commissioner Jenny Smithson stating that, ‘My decision in supporting the height breach should therefore not be construed as supporting four-storey development in the town centre, per se.’
In 2018, the Labor and Greens councillors, including then Mayor Simon Richardson and current Mayor Sarah Ndiaye, joined forces to propose raising the 9m height restriction to 11.5m for the southern end of Jonson Street, Byron Bay.
At the time The Echo reported that the Byron Residents Group said, ‘a proposal on the corner of Jonson and Browning Streets will set a precedent of “allowing an increase to four storeys all along Jonson Street”.’ Simon Richardson was quoted in The Echo dismissing those ‘claims by the Byron Residents Group as “simply scaremongering and untrue.” The mayor said of the development, “This is unique for the CBD and won’t lead to any rush on four storeys. If four storeys were possible or easy, they would have occurred over the last 20 or more years of 11.5m height limits”.’
Nevertheless, the Northern Rivers Planning Panel (NRPP) refused the Jonson/Browning development because it would set a height precedent.
Today, those height exceedance precedents are being used in DAs seeking to breach height limits of 11.5m by over 30 per cent (by 3 to 3.5m), resulting in final heights close to 15m, including DA 10.2026.384.1 for 109 Jonson Street. That proposal on 109 Jonson Street for a hotel specifically cites 6 and 4 Marvell Street approvals as precedents for its proposed height exceedances.
Is height still relevant?
Restricting the height of development has always been the one thing the community agreed on: to retain the character of the town. As height limits approved for Mercato, and Raes at Bonobo, have increased, is this ground for objection no longer relevant? Or is it more relevant than ever as the bulk, scale, character, and appeal of the town’s built landscape is changing?
The Design Excellence Panel Policy 2023 states that one of its guiding principles is to ‘increase community satisfaction with the look and feel of new buildings within the Byron Bay town centre’. The Byron Bay Masterplan recognises that ‘the community have a passion for retaining Byron Bay town centre’s village character,’ and that the town should ‘maintain three-storey building heights’.
The Byron Bay Masterplan is due for review. Should this be used as an opportunity to reinforce the three-storey aesthetic and design components and the need for setbacks on all levels to reduce the bulk and scale? Should a review of the Design Excellence Panel Policy also be undertaken to again enshrine what the community, not developers, wants for the future of their town?
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