A suspicious person might wonder if the well-heeled owners and operators of Airbnb-style short-term rentals in Byron Bay may have been lobbying both Macquarie Street and Darcy Street concerning Byron Shire Council’s desire to place a 60-day annual cap on short-term rentals by June 2024.
With the following consequences.......
The Echo, 9 August 2023:
Byron Shire Council risks losing its planning powers to ‘independent intervention’ if it does not ‘demonstrate how it intends to improve its housing supply’.
In an aggressive letter to Council’s general manager, Mark Arnold, Sydney-based Deputy Secretary NSW Planning, Marcus Ray, outlined what he believes is Council’s failure in fast-tracking housing supply for the area, adding that Council’s development application (DA) processing times ‘are among the slowest in the state’.
In the letter, which was provided to The Echo, Mr Ray demands that Council outline ‘commitments it intends to make over the next three, six, 12 months and beyond, to deliver at least 4,522 new and diverse homes to 2041’.
It’s a target that he says Council will fall ‘well short of’.
Where is the flood data?
The demand comes despite his own department still sitting on the long-awaited 2022 flood data that will underpin further developments.
In previous years, the NSW planning department told The Echo that housing targets are set by councils, are flexible, and not enforceable.
Regarding the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) report recommendations on short-term rental accommodation (STRA), which are yet to be adopted/rejected by NSW Labor Minister Paul Scully, Mr Ray says, ‘it remains critical for Council to demonstrate how it intends to improve its housing supply before any decision on Council’s planning proposal can be made’….
Read the full article here.
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