Tayagarah Beach in Byron Bay faces closure!!

[Dario Western]

The Byron Bay Shire Council is threatening to shut down Tyagarah Beach because of certain perverted characters misusing the liberties of the beach.  I will be attending a meeting with them next Thursday at their office in Mullumbimby at 9am to see what is going to be done and what measures they could use to keep the perverts away from the place.

Nudists and textile visitors to the beach alike are sick and tired of being hassled and accosted by these jerks, and they are taking action.

See this report below, and if you use Facebook you might like to join the group Save Kings Beach and Tyagarah/Belongil Nature Reserve.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-09/nudists-take-beach-games-to-byron-bay-with-focus-on-safety/9028434

[Dario Western]

This is from Mijim Berry from the FB group:

"So nudists in Byron Shire are under attack again... ho hum ..boring.. fortunately many of us in this group are gay so we know about cultural and personal attack and how to respond. We've lived outside societal law and rules. We understand the power of pride ... in this case we can invoke nude pride ...Never under-estimate the power of pride - it catches the opposition by surprise becaue they think we should be ashamed of what we do & when we take it on as our power, they don't know how to respond. And we know from history that overcoming prejudices takes time - we're dealing with societal shadows afterall. So here are some ideas to help y'all feel empowered.

The way I see it, there needs to be a short term strategy to keep the beaches clothing-optional (it is always easier to argue for the maintenance of a freedom, as opposed to trying to re-establish it down the track); and then a longer term strategy to ensure the beaches are safe for all users, especially women, who are all-too-often the focus of unwanted attention and violence.

Short-term:
Four years ago when the Shire tried to change the status of the beaches, a number of us wrote to the Shire Councillors expressing reasons why there is an ongoing need for clothing optional beaches in Byron Bay. I remember receiving favourable responses from a number of councillors and at the decisive meeting, the Council voted against changing the status of Belongil-Tyagarah beaches. Someone also spoke at the Council meeting and there was a media campaign with an article appearing in the Sydney Moaning Herald.
I would encourage everyone to write to the councillors. You can find their email addresses here: http://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/councillors
Here are some suggestions for what you could say:

• There is still a need for clothing optional beaches in the Shire & it is not good enough for the Shire to close down existing legal clothing-optional beaches before designating new ones. It definitely leaves nude beach-goers in limbo and shows us scant respect.

It would be like closing down the Shire Council chambers and then deciding at some later date where new chambers might be built. As you can appreciate, this would be rather inconvenient and distressing for Councillors and staff.

• In recent history there has been a problem with anti-social and even violent behaviour outside the pubs in Byron Bay. As a result the Shire, police, pub owners and other stakeholders got together to sort out what to do. The pubs were not closed down. The issue of violence against women at the clothing-optional beaches is a similar situation. The stakeholders need to get together and work out a solution, rather than taking the simplistic option of closing down the clothing-optional beach.

• Since the vote to change the status of the beaches in 2013, because of a Shire Report on "anti-social behaviour", the Shire has done nothing to mitigate against such behaviour. No signs have been erected at Tyagarah Beach stating the Shire's condemnation of predatory sexual behaviour and there have been no campaigns by the Shire to ensure that all beach goers are safe. I call upon the Byron Bay Shire Council to be pro-active in maintaining safety at Belongil-Tyagarah clothing – optional Beaches and not taking the easy option of simply closing the beach down. You have been voted into the Council to do a job, a job that may at times be difficult and frustrating and require dedication for a satisfactory result for ALL residents and visitors to the Shire. Abrogating that responsibility is breaking an unwritten contract with the electors of the Shire.

• To suddenly revoke the clothing-optional status of the beach, without first consulting with the people who use the beach, shows a great lack of caring and respect by Council for a significant number of residents of the Shire and visitors to the Shire.

• From what I can tell, there has been no community consultation regarding the proposal and very little time for those who it effects, to consider the implications of the decision.

• There is nothing offensive about the human body. People have been naked for 50,000 years on this continent and the sky has yet to fall in.

• As there is still a need for clothing-optional beaches in the Shire, and if it ends up there are no 'legal' clothing-optional beaches, does this mean we can swim naked at any shire Beach until such time as the shire designates a new clothing-optional beach?

Longer term ideas:

A Nude Pride campaign. Make the beaches part of society rather than being that 'dirty little activity' that 'other' people do at strange beaches. Obviously the Beach Olympics organised by the Aust Nudist Federation fit that bill and in the past the "Nude aint Rude" beach day. Other things could be to get the shire on-board in a positive way especially in terms of taking a strong stand against sexual violence and creating nude-positive campaigns. The Police and Shire could designate a clothing-optional beach liaison person. An annual nude beach art prize. Activities that will bring a diverse range of people to the beaches – and educate those people to take care of each other. There are lots of things that we can do and they don't have to be about focussing on restrictions and policing.

But the essence of it is, as we know with being gay, what we achieve depends on how much energy we're willing to put into it.

In nude solidarity. Love and hugs to all xxx"

[NaturesDram]

Good luck with the campaign Dario.

I have many happy memories of Tyagarah from the past 15 years - a wonderful place.

It seems almost every clothing optional beach has some problems with pervs. Such a shame, I don't know what we can do about it, except to continue to distinguish ourselves from those people, and ensuring the naturist community maintains a strong community presence at our beaches.

[Tree]

It looks as though the local police have sorted the situation out:
https://www.echo.net.au/2017/11/tyagarah-beach-police-patrols-welcomed/