2019-02-12 Attachment 1 to Item 7 - Short Term Accom Online Platform Issues Paper

6.6      Byron Shire Council, New South Wales
Byron Shire Council has taken significant and pro-active measures in recent years to address the
significant negative impacts of short-term holiday letting on residential amenity and housing
affordability. As one of Australia’s premier tourist destinations, the growth of short-term holiday letting
of residential properties within the region has grown exponentially with the advent of online booking
platforms.

The Gurran et al report notes that Byron is experiencing extreme impacts from the arrival of the
online short-term rental sector. For example, 17.6% of total housing stock in the shire is listed on
Airbnb. Of the whole houses available for rent in the Shire, 48.3% are listed on Airbnb. What’s more,
the Airbnb beds as a proportion of traditional tourism sector beds in Byron is a factor of 517%.

Whilst Byron Shire Council’s planning provisions do not have specific provision for holiday letting,
the use of dwellings for short-term holiday accommodation falls within the definition of ‘tourist and
visitor accommodation’ and is a prohibited land use in the residential zones of the Byron Local
Environmental Plan (LEP) 2014. In other words, short-term letting accommodation is prohibited in
residential zones. Tourist and visitor accommodation is specifically permitted with consent in the
LEP’s B2 Local Centre zone and SP3 Tourist zone.

Byron Shire Council has taken direct action to seek compliance and regulation of short-term holiday
letting, including but not limited to:
   the issuance of letters to owners of properties that Byron Shire Council has received complaints
    about, advising them that there is reason to believe the premises are being advertised/used as
    short term holiday rentals;
   advising in such letters of Byron Shire Council’s relevant resolutions and the fact that the
    obtaining of evidence via section 9.22 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act is a
    tool which officers may employ in circumstances where a reasonable suspicion of unauthorised
    short-term holiday let activity exists;
   community enforcement staff manage a list of properties against which it may commence
    enforcement proceedings based on the establishment of a prima-facie case of unauthorised
    short-term holiday let and unauthorised tourist and visitor accommodation;
   implementation of a Byron Bay Noisy Neighbour hotline to capture complaints and non-
    compliance; and
   establishment of a direct online link to report problem holiday letting to Byron Shire Council.

It is important to note that Byron Shire Council does not accept the NSW Government’s standard
state-wide approach to the issue. Subsequent to the NSW Government’s passing of short-term
holiday letting reforms on 14 August 2018, Byron Shire Council wrote to the Minister for Planning in
August 2018 to seek a deferral of Byron Shire Council from the new state-wide planning policy, in
the form of a pause to implementation. (Byron had previously proposed a 90 day cap in any calendar
year for short-term rental properties.)

Byron Shire Council is seeking to enable a full consideration of the impact of the changes to short-
term holiday letting, in terms of environmental, social and economic impacts, and also to enable
Council to tailor a local response to planning and regulation through either changes to the state-wide
policy or via Byron Shire Council local environmental plan provisions17. Byron Shire Council is
effectively seeking to preserve the current policy of restricting short term letting in residential areas.




Short Term Accommodation - Online Platform Response Issues Paper                                   Page 24