THE ONGOING FIGHT TO RETAIN A CLOTHING-OPTIONAL BEACH IN THE BYRON SHIRE and what you can do to help.

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On 30 August 2024, my beloved local nude beach, Tyagarah Clothing-Optional Beach (COB), is set for closure.

In the six months since National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) and Council blindsided us with this announcement, our naturist community has been successful in getting two extensions on the closure. Originally set for closure on 8 April 2024, we were able to get an extension until 30 June 2024 and then a further one for 30 August 2024.

But now, there are no more extensions in sight and, sadly, the signs are coming down next week.

So, we need YOUR help NOW! We are urgently looking to lobby the Minister responsible for this matter, Minister Penny Sharpe, and get her eyes on the matter. We need her urgent attention and intervention.

In this blog, I will be providing you with an update on the latest Council meeting regarding Tyagarah matters, a brief overview of the unfolding of events relating to the revocation of the CO status of Tyagarah and the steps that YOU can take to help myself and the local naturist community have the best chance of securing a clothing-optional beach in the Byron Shire moving forward.

15 AUGUST 2024 COUNCIL MEETING

Notice of Motion 9.1.

On 15 August 2024, myself and the president of the Northern Rivers Naturists (NRN), Bradley Benham, addressed the Byron Shire Councillors at public access regarding ‘Notice of Motion (NOM) 9.1’ pertaining to Tyagarah Clothing-Optional Beach (COB). Cr Peter Westheimer recently put forward this NOM in support of our community’s pleas to have Council assist us in finding an alternative location for a COB in the Byron Shire.

You can listen to our (and our opponents’) speeches in public access via the livestream replay directly on Council’s website (you’ll just need to listen to PART 1)…

Fast forward to approximately 22 minutes 30 seconds…(22:30)

Or you can listen to it on their Facebook page (again, just fast forward to approximately 22 minutes 30 seconds into the livestream for our public access speeches).

To hear the debate amongst Councillors regarding the motion, fast forward to approximately 3 hours and 22 minutes into the livestream (3:22:00).

THE OUTCOME OF THE MEETING

To be honest, we were low-key pleasantly surprised. To be frank, we weren’t expecting the motion to be passed. With Council elections around the corner and a few of the current Councillors not running again, we assumed they wouldn’t necessarily be interested in entertaining this matter at this time. But, we were happy to hear a few of them change their tune as they debated the motion amongst themselves.

We had 5 votes FOR…and 2 against. The motion was moved, albeit an amended version of the original motion.

BUTT…the NOM moved is a positive in that Councillors support us in expressing that they believe that we should be able to sunbathe in the nude on our beaches in the Shire without being fined by police. This is huge.

And whilst the amended motion moved doesn’t necessarily or directly give us what we asked for (which was a commitment to help us find an alternative designated location for a clothing-optional beach), it was still a small win for the naturist community. I guess it’s a step in the right direction in terms of normalising nudity within the wider community. I guess it can also be seen as a small step in the direction of the more ‘liberal’ and ‘progressive’ kind of attitudes toward nudity that countries such as Spain and France have adopted in Europe. We have to start somewhere, right? And general perception about nudity and nude sunbathing is what we need to be challenging and changing. These small changes in perception are how we start a revolution.

BUT, and it’s a big but, it’s still not a commitment to assisting us in securing an alternative designated COB. We currently have no alternative location to transition to once the signs come down at Tyagarah on 30 August 2024.

SO, WHAT’S NEXT?

Right now, and as a matter of urgency, we need to elevate this to the Minister responsible for this matter, Minister Penny Sharpe.

Given NPWS and Council have not been genuinely willing to help us to secure an alternative location, we now need the Minister to intervene. We need her attention on the matter NOW.

And with the Byron Shire Council elections taking place on 14 September 2024, there will be a cooling off period in our attempts to further engage Council on the matter. But, once a new Council has been formed and they have settled, we will continue to pursue their support on the matter.

The Northern Rivers Naturists (NRN) and myself will continue to work and advocate for a legal COB in the Byron Shire.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP (follow the steps below) :

1. EMAIL MINISTER AND RELEVANT CONTACTS ASAP:

We need to bombard the Minister’s offices and staff with emails on the matter. We need to get this on her agenda ASAP. We need her to know that this matter MATTERS!

So, I would be so grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to send the below templated email (or feel free to write your own if you’re a regular!) to the email addresses I have provided. All you have to do is copy and paste!

SUBJECT LINE: TYAGARAH BEACH - we deserve a clothing-optional beach in the Byron Shire!

MINISTER, MINISTERIAL, DEPARTMENTAL AND LOCAL MP EMAIL ADDRESSES (copy and paste).

office@sharpe.minister.nsw.gov.au, penny.sharpe@parliament.nsw.gov.au, anthony.baker@minister.nsw.gov.au, tamsin.lloyd@minister.nsw.gov.au, julie.sprake@minister.nsw.gov.au, electorateOffice.Ballina@parliament.nsw.gov.au, tamara.Smith@parliament.nsw.gov.au,

Cc: anthony.lean@environment.nsw.gov.au, mia.garrido@environment.nsw.gov.au, kim.curtain@environment.nsw.gov.au, atticus.fleming@environment.nsw.gov.au, naomi.stephens@environment.nsw.gov.au, owen.walker@environment.nsw.gov.au

EMAIL TEMPLATE (copy and paste):

[

Dear The Hon. Penny Sharpe MLC,

I am writing to you about Tyagarah Clothing-Optional Beach (COB) and its imminent closure on 30 August 2024.

Minister, I ask that you review and reverse NPWS’ decision. And if you choose to uphold their decision, then I request that you intervene to keep the beach open until an alternative location is secured.

With almost 8,000 signatures on a petition in favour of ‘Saving Tyagarah’, there is clearly a huge demand for a legal COB in the Byron Shire.

Given the time-sensitive nature of the issue, this is a matter of urgency. Given that NPWS and Council have been unwilling to support our naturist community in securing an alternative location in the six months since NPWS and Council blindsided us with this undemocratic decision back in February, this matter now needs to be elevated to your authority and we need you to intervene NOW.

Despite the naturist community’s pleas for community consultation and countless attempts at engagement with relevant stakeholders, all that we’ve been given is a perfunctory 2 hour ‘stakeholder workshop’, back in March, where NOTHING was achieved. This overall lack of procedural fairness is unjust and undemocratic.

Tyagarah was designated ‘clothing-optional’ in 1998. That is a span of over 25 years that a community has been built here! And now, with no regard and barely any consultation or legitimate facilitation, an entire community is being displaced and blatantly discriminated against. This is not good enough.

If we lose Tyagarah, our next closest legal COB is a 600km drive away, on the central coast of NSW! This is absurd and outrageous! Especially when you look at countries such as Spain, who has over 400 nude beaches, and France, with over 150! We’re only asking for ONE in the region!

I, along with many others, support a clothing-optional beach in the Byron Shire. We deserve either the reinstatement of our current COB, OR a feasible, safe and accessible alternative.

I really hope that we can show the world that Byron Bay is still that progressive, tolerant and diverse little coastal town it’s always been famed for.

Sincerely,

[Your name/s],

]

2. CALL THE MINISTER’S OFFICE EXPRESSING YOUR CONCERNS:

Minister Penny Sharpe: Ministerial Office: (02) 7225 6020

Minister Penny Sharpe: Electorate Office: (02) 9230 2741

Tamara Smith MP electorate office (local member for Ballina region): (02) 6686 7522

3. ATTEND THE BEACH RALLY ON 31 AUGUST:

4. SIGN OUR PETITION:

SIGN PETITION

5. WATCH AND SHARE MY VIDEO ABOUT TYAGARAH ON YOUTUBE:

I filmed this back in May 2021.

I think this video is a really beauitful reminder of just how positive an impact clothing-optional beaches have on our body image and within our community. It goes to show why we deserve to have a legal clothing-optional beach in the Byron Shire!

On this day and in this episode, I met two amazing women, Rebel and Kiva, on the beach and interviewed them about their journey with nudity and body image. These testimonies are a tribute to the positive impact that naturism and our clothing-optional beaches play on a very deep level.

It is testimonies like these that need to be heard! It really is a great example of showcasing the benefits of the naturist lifestyle. So please share far and wide!

WATCH NOW

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE UNFOLDING OF THE CLOSURE OF TYAGARAH COB:

FEBRUARY 2024 - our naturist community was blindsided by Council and National Parks and Wildlife Services’ (NPWS) underhanded decision to close the clothing-optional section of Tyagarah by 8 April 2024.

18 FEBRUARY: Tyagarah Beach Protest Rally - we had over 150 people attend a snap protest rally.

22 FEBRUARY: Myself and Bradley Benham (president of the ‘Northern Rivers Naturists (NRN)) addressed NOM 13.1 and spoke at public access - an extension until 30 June 2024 on the closure date was granted.

10 MARCH: Our community showed up to the ‘World Naked Bike Ride’ in Byron Bay, rallying to ‘Save Tyagarah’.

27 MARCH: NPWS hosted a perfunctory 2 hour stakeholder roundtable meeting to tick the ‘community consultation’ box. This was an inadequate amount of time to address as complex an issue as this. NOTHING was achieved at this meeting.

25 APRIL: The community gathered for a protest rally and ANZAC Day Cricket Match at Tyagarah.

26 JUNE: NPWS grant second extension for closure, extended from 30 June 2024 to 30 August 2024. This decision was made following on from March’s 2 hour perfunctory ‘stakeholder workshop’ which they claimed to be ‘extensive consultation’.

27 JUNE: Bradley Benham addressed Council in public access and put forward the naturist community’s ideal alternative location for a new clothing-optional beach - Council does nothing about it (essentially rejecting it).

15 AUGUST: Bradley Benham and I address Council in public access regarding NOM 9.1 - where Council voted with us, albeit on an AMENDED motion which doesn’t include committing to helping us find an alternative location in the Shire for a COB, but rather supports the belief that nudity should be more tolerated on all beaches in the Shire when it comes to police issuing fines.

30 AUGUST: Clothing-Optional section at Tyagarah Beach to close…still with no alternative location secured…

*FOI requests have since revealed that the Mayor had known of NPWS’ plans since March 2023!

A COB IN THE BYRON SHIRE - OUR VISION

Myself, the Northern Rivers Naturists and our local naturist community are committed to advocating for a legal COB in the Byron Shire.

Given that some non-naturists are concerned about the ‘honeypot effect’ (whereby they believe that having a specific beach designated as a ‘nude beach’ attracts ‘lewd’ and ‘anti-social’ behaviour’), I say that we advocate to have a FEW clothing-optional beaches in the shire! Given that our next legal nude beach is a 600km drive south of Tyagarah (with no legal nude beaches north of Tyagarah in the entire state of QLD - that’s over 1600km of coastline!), I can understand why they might assume the ‘honeypot effect’ about Tyagarah. So, various nude sections of beaches in the Shire would mean that there is not only one location where nudity is permitted, there would be numerous! It would be more spread out, which would address this ‘honeypot’ argument.

Like I always say, the more we normalise nudity, the less sexualised it becomes. The way that we normalise it is to have MORE of it…not so hidden away either. The more nude beaches we have, the more normalised nude sunbathing becomes. I mean, look at various countries in Europe!

So, let’s go big! Why stop at one???

Thank you so much for your support, for your ongoing interest in the matter and anything that you can do to help! This is what community is all about! Let’s rise together! Let’s do this!

We deserve a clothing-optional beach in the Byron Shire

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Nude is NOT lewd

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Naturism heals

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Normalise non-sexual nudity

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We deserve a clothing-optional beach in the Byron Shire 〰️ Nude is NOT lewd 〰️ Naturism heals 〰️ Normalise non-sexual nudity 〰️