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Does the NSW coalition government support holiday letting in residential areas or not?
It’s a question NSW Greens MP and former Byron Shire mayor Jan Barham says she has been waiting three years for an answer on, and on August 12 she got one from tourism MP George Souris (Nationals). Well, sort of. In a recent general purpose standing committee held in parliament, Mr Souris was asked whether he supported ‘legitimate tourism operators’ or those ‘who operate without approvals, safety provisions for visitors and without paying their way to local government.’ Mr Souris replied to Ms Barham after some stalling that ‘Holiday letting in NSW is essentially a local government issue,’ and referred to the recently introduced holiday rental code of conduct, introduced by the industry with help from NSW department of Trade and Investment and Destination NSW. He claims councils have at their disposal a range of regulatory mechanisms to deal with matters such as noise pollution issues. ‘These can usually be addressed by existing regulation; for example, under the protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, councils and communities are encouraged to utilise these mechanisms as appropriate.’ But MP Paul Green from the Christian Democratic Party made the point during Mr Souris’s questioning that ‘Local government is an arm of the state government, as we well know, so obviously its master should be watching over it to ensure that it is able to enact or empower those regulations that the state makes.’ It should be noted that the general purpose standing committee transcript is an uncorrected proof. Dept of planning replies on HL As for the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure position, a spokesperson told The Echo the department ‘worked with industry and other government departments to develop a self-regulatory code of conduct for use by owners, managers, guests and visitors of holiday let properties.’ ‘The department is continuing to work with councils and industry on this issue and has recently attended meetings with industry representatives and concerned residents of Byron Bay.’
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Does the NSW coalition government support holiday letting in residential areas or not?
It’s a question NSW Greens MP and former Byron Shire mayor Jan Barham says she has been waiting three years for an answer on, and on August 12 she got one from tourism MP George Souris (Nationals). Well, sort of. In a recent general pur- pose standing committee held in parliament, Mr Souris was asked whether he supported ‘legitimate tourism operators’ or those ‘who op- erate without approvals, safe- ty provisions for visitors and without paying their way to local government.’ Mr Souris replied to Ms Barham after some stalling that ‘Holiday letting in NSW is essentially a local government issue,’ and referred to the recently introduced holiday rental code of conduct, introduced by the industry with help from NSW department of Trade and Investment and Destination NSW. He claims councils have at their disposal a range of regulatory mechanisms to deal with matters such as noise pollution issues. ‘These can usually be ad- dressed by existing regulation; for example, under the protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, councils and communities are encouraged to utilise these mechanisms as appropriate.’ But MP Paul Green from the Christian Democratic Party made the point during Mr Souris’s questioning that ‘Local government is an arm of the state government, as we well know, so obviously its master should be watch- ing over it to ensure that it is able to enact or empower those regulations that the state makes.’ It should be noted that the general purpose stand- ing committee transcript is an uncorrected proof. Dept of planning replies on HL As for the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure position, a spokes- person told The Echo the department ‘worked with industry and other government departments to develop a self-regulatory code of con- duct for use by owners, man- agers, guests and visitors of holiday let properties.’ ‘The department is continuing to work with councils and industry on this is- sue and has recently attended meetings with industry representatives and concerned residents of Byron Bay.’ Members from a group that say they been affected by Byron’s holiday letting industry are calling on Council to crack down on holiday letting in residential zones.
It comes after a meeting between Victims Of Holiday Letting (VOHL), community representatives and Council last Tuesday. While thanking Council, including staff, for the opportunity to present their concerns, spokesperson Doug Luke told The Echo that he hopes to see a more proactive compliance approach by Council toward holiday letting in residential zones. ‘We are rapidly losing our demographic diversity and our vibrant alternative culture,’ said Mr Luke. ‘VOHL welcomes holiday letting in areas appropriately zoned for tourism and close to the beach. VOHL’s position is that holiday letting is illegal and has serious detrimental impacts on individual residents and the shire as a community and a society.’ Mr Luke claims self-regulation by the HLO (holiday letting organisation) and its code of conduct are ‘absolutely useless’. ‘The only protection achieved is for the financial interests of the industry. Council and therefore its councillors have a duty of care for citizens and residents. VOHL is simply asking Council to uphold the law and as soon as possible put up a motion in Council to reinstate compliance action against the Suffolk Park property where the case is ready to go to court.’ He says the group ‘now has concerns about holiday letting multiplying in the north of our Shire, as evidenced by the impacts felt recently from the Splendour In The Grass festival attended by 25,000 people.’ ‘While compliance action continues,’ he says, ‘VOHL believes that a development control plan (DCP) should be worked on and inserted into the local environment plan (LEP). Can the state government help us here? VOHL would like the ball to stop bouncing between Council and state.’ Mayor responds And while Mayor Simon Richardson agrees that ‘Council has an obligation to act on a compliance issue when it has been notified of a breach’, he told The Echo he does ‘not want Council to spend years in court, taking on one compliance matter after another.’ He says that under the current local environment plan (LEP), holiday letting in a residential zone is a prohibited use. ‘I am trying to find a compromise that can provide a clear understanding in the community as to where holiday letting can occur and where it cannot. ‘Within the area that holiday letting may be considered acceptable, we need to develop stringent management strategies to make sure the noise, rubbish, fire safety and parking issues are addressed properly. ‘Within the DCP [development control plan] and new LEP we need to embed clear and fair regulation. ‘In this way, we can protect residents who have decided to live in an area with a thriving community instead of a constant stream of short-term visitors, while ensuring the holiday letting industry can provide accommodation to our visitors so pressure for high rises can be dampened.’ The Echo contacted Holiday Letting Organisation’s (HLO) John Gudgeon but he declined to comment. Realtor and Byron Shire councillor Rose Wanchap has proposed to increase security deposits to a maximum of $5,000 for holiday let homes in an attempt to address what she says is a ‘solution to the issue of unacceptable behaviour,’ by unruly visitors.
It comes as Council last week agreed to initiate a holiday let forum, which will include members from HLO (Holiday Letting Organisation), ARAMANR (Australian Residential Accommodation Management Association, northern rivers), Victims of Holiday Letting (VOHL), the real estate sector and the broader community. Cr Wanchap told The Echo that while there is ‘an excellent set of rules drawn up by the HLO called a code of conduct’, it is ‘clear that regulation of the Holiday Let industry in the Byron Shire is failing.’ ‘All the rules in the world mean nothing once alcohol comes into the picture, and it is obvious that it is not working if the number of complaints are any indication. ‘I propose that all managing agents impose a security deposit… of $800 per person, or a maximum of $5,000 per home. If the owners of these homes are concerned that this would lose them business, they can put up the bond themselves. This way the risk that they will behave is on their shoulders, not the community. I believe this will discourage the wrong type of holiday maker, while families will be happy to pay the deposit because they know they have very little risk of losing it. The code of conduct produced by HLO has all the rules and regulations required to impose the loss of deposit if complaints are received. This would need to be agreed by all holiday letting agents so that no-one is disadvantaged. I would propose a 12-month trial to see if the industry can indeed self-regulate.’ No comment: HLO HLO spokesperson John Gudgeon told The Echo that his organisation and letting agents ‘welcomed the opportunity to engage with Byron Shire councillors and staff at a meeting to discuss the issues raised relating to holiday letting on Thursday June 20.’ ‘It was recognised and accepted by all that a working group representing those present will be convened with the objective of examining the detail of all issues and options raised before any informed policy can be created. While this in process, HLO believes that it is not appropriate to comment or to react publicly to anecdotes quoted. All perspectives are well known and all will be on the table.’ |
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