Proposed nudists’ ban for Tyagarah Beach near Byron Bay, northern NSW
Naturists may have just a few weeks left to flourish on a popular beach once labeled by a councilor as a ‘paradise for swingers and doggers’.
The NSW Parks and Wildlife Service (NWPS) has said it plans to end the ‘clothing optional’ provision for Tyagarah Beach near Byron Bay on the far north coast of NSW.
In a letter to Byron Bay Shire Council late last year, the NWPS said the nudist beach was ‘not consistent with the values held by the reserve’.
The conservation service also asked all signage and other official channels to remove the advice that the beach is ‘clothing optional’ by April 8.
Tyagarah Beach, near New Zealand’s northern coastal town of Byron Bay, has been a clothing-optional area since 1998
Councilors will vote on the request at a public meeting next Thursday.
NPWS has confirmed to Council that having a clothing-optional beach within the Tyagarah Nature Reserve is not supported by NPWS as it is inconsistent with the values of the reserve it manages,” according to the Byron meeting agenda Shire Council.
In its letter, NWPS alleged that naturists were straying from the designated beach area to also use dunes and back dunes, causing environmental problems.
A spokesperson for NPWS told Nine News that no final decision had been made.
It also pledged to work with the community to look for other options.
“The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) will continue to work with relevant stakeholders to identify alternative locations for the activity to take place,” the spokesperson said.
Bradley Benham, from Byron Naturists, has started a petition to NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, who is calling for the beach, which has been clothing optional since 1998, to be kept open to nudists.
“Legal outdoor spaces for the naturist community are rare in NSW (and Australia) and this beach is highly valued by both committed and casual naturists in the Northern Rivers and South East Queensland,” the petition said.
A petition is being prepared calling for Tyagarah Beach to be kept open for ‘future generations’ of naturists. This petition will be sent to the NSW Minister for the Environment
‘Nude recreation is a legitimate way of life, and the local community, interstate and international visitors have the right to a public space where this freedom can be expressed.
“The clothing-optional Tyagarah Beach has been a place of fun and freedom since it was created through community activism more than 25 years ago. Thousands of people now enjoy this beach responsibly.
‘Closing the beach at such short notice and without public consultation or the offer of an alternative location is unfair.’
The petition also calls on NPWS to reverse its decision for ‘future generations’.
As of Tuesday evening, it had collected 785 signatures, well within reach of its 1,000 goal.
In 2018, the council rejected a measure to close the beach because it was allegedly infested with sex pests and public masturbation.
Instead, $10,000 worth of CCTV cameras were installed to appease concerned locals.
Despite nudists’ concerns about their privacy, the council said it was a necessary step to ‘clean the beach’.
Councilor Paul Spooner, a long-time opponent of the naturist facility, had previously warned he would bash “sex pests” with a cricket bat if the nudist beach remained open.
Mr Spooner pulled out a bat in the middle of the council meeting and said the beach had turned into a ‘paradise for swingers and doggers’.
The NSW Parks and Wildlife Service has claimed naturists are not adhering to areas designated for them
In September 2020, police were called to the beach after complaints about a party taking place during Covid restrictions.
Officers went to the scene and found more than twenty beachgoers, more than the maximum number of people allowed for outdoor gatherings at the time.
Three partygoers were fined $1,000 for not adhering to COVID-19 public health orders.
The Council had claimed jurisdiction over the beach, which was believed to be Crown land, until a survey carried out last year revealed that the 800-metre stretch of sand was actually under the auspices of NWPS.