Byron Bay’s night-life battle: Locals fire up petition to stop Special Entertainment Precinct plans
“Byron is not Sydney” – a divisive council proposal to extend the former hippie mecca’s night-life hours has divided the community, with over 1200 residents signing a petition warning of dangerous consequences.
A Northern Rivers council has voted to proceed with a controversial Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP) trial amid heated debate between council desires for a regulated night time economy and residents who say they have rejected the plan.
During a prickly debate in Byron Shire Council’s November ordinary meeting, Councillors voted five to four to progress the SEP Planning Proposal to the State Government for Gateway Determination.
Yet in a campaign led by local resident and father of two Anthony Stante, he argues Council is ignoring a clear “84 per cent” statistical mandate from the public.
In the lead-up to the vote, Mr Stante released an analysis of community feedback and petition signatures, which he presented to the Council’s SEP team.
According to Stante’s figures, 1,160 people registered a “no” vote against the late-night precinct, compared to only 220 who supported it.
Stante said this represents an 84 per cent opposition rate, describing it as a “strong, clear community mandate” that the council has chosen to override.
“That’s more than five to one against proceeding... One would say it’s a mandate to stop,” Stante wrote in a petition update just days before the meeting.
Alongside the numbers opponents state Byron Bay lacks the infrastructure to support a late-night precinct safely.
Stante, writing to the NSW Premier and Ministers, warns that extending night-time activity creates a “duty of care” crisis by forcing young workers and patrons to drive home fatigued on dangerous, unlit hinterland roads due to a lack of public transport.
Stante cited Transport for NSW data showing being awake for 20 hours impairs driving performance equivalent to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15.
“No number of newly proposed buses or infrastructure upgrades can fully offset that risk,” Stante said.
He said “Byron is not Sydney” and lacks the 24-hour trains and taxi networks of a metropolitan city.
Yet Byron Shire Mayor Sarah Ndiaye and supporting Councillors (Crs Lowe, Dods, Swain, and Pugh) argue the SEP is misunderstood.
In a media release following the vote, Ms Ndiaye insisted the precinct is “grounded in creating a safer town centre after dark” and is not an attempt to return Byron to “party central”.
Supporters say the SEP offers a structured framework to manage noise and trading hours, which currently operate under a patchwork of regulations.
Council claims the 12 to 18 month trial will unlock state funding for safety initiatives like lighting audits, police resources, and “Purple Flag” accreditation.
Additionally the trial will support the creative economy by fostering cultural events and not just alcohol consumption.
Council has also removed “Area South” from the SEP map, keeping the precinct within the CBD of the town to appease early community feedback.
Stante’s correspondence with the NSW Minister for Roads showed that while the State is committed to regional road safety, the SEP remains a Council-led project, leaving the onus of risk management on local officials.
The proposal will now be submitted to the NSW Government.
If approved, it will return for public exhibition in early 2026.
However, critics like Stante fear that once the trial begins, it will let a “dangerous genie back out of its bottle,” undoing years of work to curb alcohol-fuelled violence in the shire.
More Coverage
Originally published as Byron Bay’s night-life battle: Locals fire up petition to stop Special Entertainment Precinct plans
