A holiday letting operation deep in the bush at Middle Pocket has been ordered to close its doors after a court found that the dwellings were unauthorised and not up to standard.

More than five years after the state government famously promised to give Byron its own cap on short-term rental accommodation (STRA), it’s finally happening.

The last Ballina Council meeting saw a straightforward request from staff for more information about the short term rental accommodation situation in the shire (as it relates to NSW government policy) turn into an elaborate saga.

A Suffolk Park property owner has been issued two $6,000 fines for unauthorised holiday letting, say Council staff.

Congratulations to Council staff and Mayor Michael Lyon on convincing the NSW Labor government that Byron Shire is a unique place, and as such, it will now have a tailored holiday letting policy.

The crisis of unaffordable and insecure rentals here is not news, but right now there’s a real opportunity to help fix it. 

The much anticipated report by the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) into Council’s planning proposal around holiday letting was released last week, with commissioners recommending a 60-day yearly cap on non-hosted holiday letting across the Shire, instead of Council’s 90-day proposal.

The long-awaited report by NSW Independent Planning Commission into Byron Shire Council’s planning proposal around holiday letting has been released, with commissioners recommending a 60-day cap on non-hosted holiday letting across the Byron Shire.

A motion within this Thursday’s meeting agenda by Mayor Michael Lyon, if successful, would ask compliance staff ‘to enforce existing consent conditions which prohibit the use of a property as short-term rental accommodation’.

The Independent Planning Commission (IPC) held its public hearings last week over two days, with commissioners hearing from organisations and residents on the negative and positive impacts from holiday letting.