Byron Shire Council and NSW EPA are still investigating PFAS contamination at the Butler Street Reserve, which has been closed since July 2019

The reserve was closed when construction began on the Byron Bay Bypass and there were hopes it would open with the road’s completion, but months on that has not eventuated.

Byron Shire Council and the EPA are investigating the detection of PFAS substances in groundwater at the Butler St Reserve in Byron Bay.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the presence of PFAS substances at the Butler Street Reserve.

The reserve in Byron Bay has been closed since July 2019 when work on the town’s bypass began.

At that time, the council planned to reopen the space along with the bypass, which has been operational since February.

Byron Shire Council was continuing to work with the NSW Environment Protection Authority on investigating the site’s PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination.

The reserve was built on an old landfill site and has been identified as a contaminated site.

Several rounds of testing have been conducted in a bid to identify the extent and type of contamination, and the risk it may pose.

“This testing is still ongoing and unfortunately this means the Butler Street Reserve is closed until we get those results and approval from the EPA for an Environmental Management Plan,” Byron Shire Council’s acting director of infrastructure services, Phil Warner, said.

“While our intention is to be able to be return the Reserve to community use for recreation, carparking and markets, it is important to acknowledge that this is an active contamination investigation that has not reached its conclusion.”

He said the council was planning for a number of possibilities which will depend on the result of those investigations.

The council has been working on a site design for the Farmers Market to return to the reserve and recently opened a proposal to move the Byron Community Market to the rail precinct up for public comment.

“I’m sure some people will be asking why we are looking to put one market back on the Reserve but not the other,” Mr Warner said.

“Our hope is that the future use of Butler Street Reserve for a public recreation space, carpark and market site will hopefully be achievable if the site is managed under an Environmental Management Plan endorsed by the EPA – which we are in the process of developing now.

“What we do know is while the future use of the Reserve needs resolution, that the use of the whole site may not be possible into the future.

“The space available for formalised activity may need to be smaller, which is why we still see it as a possibility for the Farmers Market, which has approximately 80 stalls, and not the Byron Community Market of 300 stalls.”

He said it was still unclear when an Environmental Management Plan for the reserve would be completed and approved by the EPA.

 “Getting Butler Street Reserve operational again for community use is a high priority for Council and we are doing everything we can within our control to get to that point,” he said.