Byron Shire Council is trying to clamping down on owners renting out their properties to tourists. The council previously attempted, unsuccessfully, to ban short term holiday letting in Byron Bay but has now drawn up new plans.
Byron Bay Council has incorporated an “urban holiday letting precinct model” in its local environment plan (LEP), reports Australia’s Daily Telegraph.
The model seeks to prohibit short term holiday letting in Suffolk Park, a residential area just south of Cape Byron. According to the council, holiday letting is reducing the supply of accommodation for local workers and people trying to get on the housing ladder. They also argue that holidaymakers disrupt local residents.
However, the move has been met with opposition by some.
Not all holiday letting is a disaster! I have lived for a period of 12 months in a small complex that had a mix of permanents and holiday lets and there was never problem. The visitors were quiet and seemed to enjoy being part of the community and never left rubbish etc around.
Now it happened, the Byron Shire council decided, holiday letting should be restricted to certain parts of Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads.
The proposed holiday letting zones went to public exhibition last Friday. They include Lawson Street, Lighthouse Road and Wategos, the Belongil and Shirley Street in Byron Bay and the entire town centre of Brunswick Heads.
Letting is banned in areas outside the zones.
The areas were defined in response to public complaints about the impacts of tourists in residential streets.
Residents are upset about noise from late-night parties, anti-social behaviour, cars blocking streets and excess garbage.
There is also concern about the loss of permanent rental homes, with statistics showing one-fifth of all homes in Byron Bay are used for holiday letting and don’t have a permanent resident.
Maggie and Doug Luke, of Lilli Pilli, have put up with plenty of sleepless nights caused by noisy tourists in neighbouring houses.
They welcomed the proposed controls, saying holiday letting has become rampant in Byron Bay and is affecting the town’s character.
Not everyone is happy about the proposed controls, however.
John Gudgeon, president of the Holiday Letting Organisation, said the restrictions would have a devastating effect on the local economy.
He said tourism was the lifeblood of Byron Bay and holiday lets provided the majority of beds for tourists in the town.
The proposed controls will be on public exhibition until March 20.
SOURCE: Lismore Northern Star
Has anyone noticed the elephant in this room? Are those home owners involved in improper holiday lettings aware their home and contents insurance policies become invalid during the period the home owners accept rent payments for their homes unless they have landlord insurance. Heaven forbid the situation whereby a tenant sub lets without approval from the landlord!
So perhaps the neighbours of improper holiday lettings should record some event details in case an accident or a bit of damage happens and the owner lodges an insurance claim. It would be interesting if the accident or damage happened during the holiday rental but the claim specifies another time period.
The ‘tourist dollar’ is no justification for destroying peoples lives. We can live with families leasing. We cannot live with bucks and hens weekends, birthday parties and yobbo groups which come in on Friday afternoon and leave midday Sunday after going all night for 2 nights, robbing neighbours of any sleep and then leavingheaps of rubbish next to the overflowing bins. ANd when you complain at 2 am you get “this is what we paid for……”, and more if you are unlucky.
Apparently the citizens who live in the shire do not matter.
I can see the controversy. We will see if this will ever come into effect. One thing is for sure we need more housing space but we also need the tourist dollar.