Holiday Letting

Holiday Letting in Byron Shire

Updated July 2009

There is concern about the impact that unregulated holiday letting is having on residential amenity and on the cost of housing in the shire, particularly in Byron Bay.

Council convened a Holiday Letting Forum in Byron Bay in October 2005 in an endeavour to engage the tourist accommodation industry and resident groups in examining possible solutions to various issues relating to holiday letting.

Participants at the Forum proposed a number of options relating to holiday letting.  The options brought forward from the forum were considered by Council in April 2006 and again in November 2006 as part of the Council Report on the submissions to the Draft LEP for the Byron Bay Area. This draft LEP was abandoned in October 2006.  

Over the last two years Council has been developing a new Local Environmental Plan (LEP) for the entire Shire based on the State Governments Standard LEP template.  The draft LEP has been prepared and is currently with the Department of Planning pending permission to publicly exhibit it and supporting documents.

In relation to holiday letting of residential properties and the new LEP, on 31 October 2008, Council resolved (08-676):

  1. That Council adopt for public exhibition an urban holiday letting precinct model for Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads.
  2. That the area for Byron Bay include Belongil, Lighthouse Road and Wategos, to facilitate beachside areas and those precincts that are in close proximity to the town centre, tourism facilities and services and within walkable distances to those cultural experiences - see Map 1 572KB .
  3. That the area for Brunswick Heads exclude Bayside, but include the older area of town as the area that is in close proximity to the town centre, tourism facilities and services and within walkable distances to those cultural experiences including the beach - see Map 2 892KB .
  4. That this form of tourism use be regulated to provide an approval system, other than a development application.
  5. That an information brochure be developed for the public exhibition period of 28 days and be subject to a councillor workshop which includes specific information on:
    1. part time rental of permanently occupied dwellings for the purpose of short term visitor use
    2. a process for the regulation of holiday let properties by way of an annual licence and property identification as per Tourism Options Paper
    3. a fee for inspection and contribution to Council proposal and how this compared with bed and breakfast
    4. a Frequently Asked Questions leaflet

And resolved (08-684)

  1. That the following amendment be made to the Draft Local Environmental Plan for Byron Shire prior to submission to the Department of Planning:
    1. insert the provisions for holiday letting as resolved at Resolution 08-676.

As a result of the above resolutions the proposed draft LEP (at December 2008) contains provision to allow holiday letting of residential properties in certain mapped areas with Council consent. If the development can met certain criteria then it is proposed that it proceed as complying development (i.e. no development application required and can be signed off by Council or a private certifier). Note: these new provisions do not affect the current situation with regard to holiday letting in residential areas.

Council prepared the brochure, Holiday Letting in Byron Shire and Frequently Asked Questions and they were placed on public exhibition for a period of 35 days from 13 February 2009 to 20 March 2009. Following the public exhibition over 1000 submissions were received. These submissions were summarised into a report and considered by Council on 2 July 2009. At this meeting Council resolved the following:

(09-614)

  1. That Council note the results of the public exhibition of the proposed holiday letting model as outlined in this report.
  2. That Council reconfirm its Draft LEP Holiday Letting Precinct position with the inclusion of the South Beach Road and Riverside Crescent, Brunswick Head areas for holiday letting permissibility.
  3. That Council reconfirm its Holiday Letting tourism model has been assessed as a tourism activity that considers the needs of visitors to be in close proximity to tourism related infrastructure and activities and the impact of the use on residential areas.

Once Council has received input from the NSW Department of Planning on its draft LEP (including the issue of holiday letting), Council will again consider the draft LEP for public exhibition and how these changes and references to holiday letting will be finally addressed in the draft planning instrument.

Also on 31 October 2008, Council also resolved (08-681)

That Council investigate with other councils the option of approaching the State government to secure provisions for temporary approval of holiday letting by means other than a development application, eg. Section 68 licence under the Local Government Act.

There has been no response to this investigation as yet and no changes have been proposed to the Local Government Act.

For more information on the new LEP and how it deals with holiday letting in residential areas please contact the Community Planning section on (02) 6626 7126.