Byron’s just for rich and famous (and criminals): YOUR SAY

WOW, you guys really love to hate Byron Bay, don’t you?

Welcome to Byron Bay... if you can afford it.

THERE are growing concerns about house prices and holiday letting in what was once a sleepy beachside haven.

Byron Bay has certainly changed a lot over the years.

Once known for its whaling industry, butter factory and relaxed surfing culture, the town is now a hotspot for celebrities ‒ and it's increasingly unaffordable.

According to realestate.com.au, the median house price is now $1.5 million, and the median weekly rent is $755.

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Byron Shire Council is still desperately working to secure a local framework for short term holiday letting, including a 90-day cap on non-hosted holiday lets.

Deputy Mayor Michael Lyon said the shire was quickly becoming a place for the rich, and expressed concerns the town would be "destroyed".

We asked our readers: Is it too late to save Byron Bay?

Here are some of the responses.

Tess Cooper: "Byron's only for the rich and famous, oh and criminals. Been going downhill for years."

 

The lighthouse ‒ and its amazing view ‒ is always a winner.

 

Peter Armstrong: "Forty years ago you knew everyone in town."

Sylvia Silson: "All the rich people of Byron can save it."

Justin Dono: "It was too late to save Byron Bay 10 years ago."

Steve Kite: "Typical. Rich, snotty-nosed (people) stuff every town they have gone to. As if people will pay to park in a town full of overpaid nobodies. Town has been on a downward spiral for years, thanks to out of control backpackers and famous floggers."

Antonia Staff: "Rich destroy what they came for.

Brett Pearson: "Beautiful spot, overgrown by fools."

Brooke Cotten: "Couldn't pay me to go there."

Linda Scott: "We would go down for breakfast/lunch, it was good. Now we don't bother. Too hard finding a park, it is not nice anymore."

Lisa Hecimovic: "A real shame as we have some of the most spectacular country here on the North Coast."

 

It sure is spectacular.

 

Dawn Loschiavo: "I used to live at Byron Bay back in the 60s. Wouldn't live there now for free."

Stewart Bateman: "If you have lived on the North Coast for more than 30 years and didn't realise Byron Bay was lost and overrated (and) overpriced, you're not awake."

Sandra Mcleod: "A yuppie town now. Won't go there unless necessary, hate it."

Tanya Lee: "Been that way for many years, way overpriced, but so is Ballina. It's ridiculous."

Monica Wilcox: "Affordable housing disappeared years ago, so its residents diversity was disappearing years ago."