HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP (follow the steps below) :
1. EMAIL MINISTER AND RELEVANT CONTACTS ASAP:
We need to bombard the Minister’s offices and staff with emails on the matter. We need to get this on her agenda ASAP. We need her to know that this matter MATTERS!
So, I would be so grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to send the below templated email (or feel free to write your own if you’re a regular!) to the email addresses I have provided. All you have to do is copy and paste!
SUBJECT LINE: TYAGARAH BEACH - we deserve a clothing-optional beach in the Byron Shire!
MINISTER, MINISTERIAL, DEPARTMENTAL AND LOCAL MP EMAIL ADDRESSES (copy and paste).
office@sharpe.minister.nsw.gov.au, penny.sharpe@parliament.nsw.gov.au, anthony.baker@minister.nsw.gov.au, tamsin.lloyd@minister.nsw.gov.au, julie.sprake@minister.nsw.gov.au, electorateOffice.Ballina@parliament.nsw.gov.au, tamara.Smith@parliament.nsw.gov.au,
Cc: anthony.lean@environment.nsw.gov.au, mia.garrido@environment.nsw.gov.au, kim.curtain@environment.nsw.gov.au, atticus.fleming@environment.nsw.gov.au, naomi.stephens@environment.nsw.gov.au, owen.walker@environment.nsw.gov.au
EMAIL TEMPLATE (copy and paste):
[
Dear The Hon. Penny Sharpe MLC,
I am writing to you about Tyagarah Clothing-Optional Beach (COB) and its imminent closure on 30 August 2024.
Minister, I ask that you review and reverse NPWS’ decision. And if you choose to uphold their decision, then I request that you intervene to keep the beach open until an alternative location is secured.
With almost 8,000 signatures on a petition in favour of ‘Saving Tyagarah’, there is clearly a huge demand for a legal COB in the Byron Shire.
Given the time-sensitive nature of the issue, this is a matter of urgency. Given that NPWS and Council have been unwilling to support our naturist community in securing an alternative location in the six months since NPWS and Council blindsided us with this undemocratic decision back in February, this matter now needs to be elevated to your authority and we need you to intervene NOW.
Despite the naturist community’s pleas for community consultation and countless attempts at engagement with relevant stakeholders, all that we’ve been given is a perfunctory 2 hour ‘stakeholder workshop’, back in March, where NOTHING was achieved. This overall lack of procedural fairness is unjust and undemocratic.
Tyagarah was designated ‘clothing-optional’ in 1998. That is a span of over 25 years that a community has been built here! And now, with no regard and barely any consultation or legitimate facilitation, an entire community is being displaced and blatantly discriminated against. This is not good enough.
If we lose Tyagarah, our next closest legal COB is a 600km drive away, on the central coast of NSW! This is absurd and outrageous! Especially when you look at countries such as Spain, who has over 400 nude beaches, and France, with over 150! We’re only asking for ONE in the region!
I, along with many others, support a clothing-optional beach in the Byron Shire. We deserve either the reinstatement of our current COB, OR a feasible, safe and accessible alternative.
I really hope that we can show the world that Byron Bay is still that progressive, tolerant and diverse little coastal town it’s always been famed for.
Sincerely,
[Your name/s],
]
2. CALL THE MINISTER’S OFFICE EXPRESSING YOUR CONCERNS:
Minister Penny Sharpe: Ministerial Office: (02) 7225 6020
Minister Penny Sharpe: Electorate Office: (02) 9230 2741
Tamara Smith MP electorate office (local member for Ballina region): (02) 6686 7522
3. ATTEND THE BEACH RALLY ON 31 AUGUST:
