Justin Hemmes wants to conquer Byron Bay. A primary school is in his way

12 hours ago 3

Justin Hemmes has spent the past four years snapping up $60 million worth of property in Byron Bay, donating thousands of dollars to local causes, and declaring his love for the north-coast holiday town.

But there is one achievement that has eluded the billionaire: a venue to call his own.

Byron Bay school parents oppose Justin Hemmes’ plans.

Byron Bay school parents oppose Justin Hemmes’ plans.Credit: Natalie Grono

In 2021, Hemmes bought the infamous Cheeky Monkeys backpacker bar for $13 million. Then he bought Red Ginger, Bell & Ford and Johnsons, two retail stores and a restaurant next door for $11.9 million in 2023. The shopfronts complemented Hemmes’ growing personal property stake in the Byron Shire, which includes a $22 million house and a $16 million shack nearby on Belongil Beach.

Hemmes has described Byron as a place that is “close to his heart” and won praise from local Greens councillors for his $10,000 donation to the Big Byron Big Sleep Out. But Byron, like Melbourne, has yet to join the ranks of the hospitality mogul’s venues. Both have similar characteristics: an aversion to large companies, fiercely loyal locals, and an independent spirit that triumphs quirky over flashy.

Now his company, Merivale, wants to transform the 1700 square metre retail lot into the largest venue ever to open in Byron Bay, which will house two of his staples, Totti’s and Jimmy’s Falafel and “contribute to the character and vibrancy of the town centre,” according to its development application.

But his ambitious plan is in the crosshairs of parents at Byron Bay Public School who say kindergarten students will be in classrooms less than 70 metres from where Merivale wants to serve up to 545 customers from 10am until 2am.

Byron Bay Public Parents including Rachael Calvert, Ray Moynihan, and Anna Ockert and Miranda Burne are opposing Merivale’s plans for the redevelopment.

Byron Bay Public Parents including Rachael Calvert, Ray Moynihan, and Anna Ockert and Miranda Burne are opposing Merivale’s plans for the redevelopment. Credit: Natalie Grono

“I’m gobsmacked,” said Byron Bay parent Rachael Calvert. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been vocal about a development application.”

“I’m 37, I’m a mum of two. I run a business. I employ 10 people full-time, like I feel like I contribute to this town, and I care and love it, and I just don’t think people should just be able to do whatever they want.”

Despite its application for the expanded venue still waiting for council approval, Merivale has already begun construction on the venue. Last week, it was fined for unauthorised work on the site.

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“Some works undertaken on the site have been the subject of recent enforcement investigation and action,” said Shannon Burt, Byron Bay Council’s director of sustainable environment and economy.

Byron Bay Public’s P&C committee said the school was blindsided by the project.

Merivale did not mention the impact of the proposed development on the primary school in its development application submitted to the Byron Bay Council.

“We’ve been completely overlooked,” said Byron Bay Public P&C president Laura Cima. “We obviously have concerns about the size and scale of this development and the potential safety risks for children at a school less than 100 metres from the venue.”

“That part of the school is where our youngest students are in classrooms: our kindergarten year, year one and year two kids.”

An artist impression of Merivale’s plans for the Byron venue.

An artist impression of Merivale’s plans for the Byron venue.

Byron Bay Public principal Mel Morris declined to comment.

In a statement, Merivale said it had “spoken directly with Byron Bay Public School, which is fully informed of the facts and appreciates the clarification provided regarding misinformation about our refurbishment plans”.

“Merivale’s development application is a straightforward refurbishment of two existing food and beverage venues with existing licences and three small retail spaces,” a spokesperson said. “The result will be two beautiful, family-friendly restaurants that bear no resemblance to the former infamous Cheeky Monkeys nightclub.”

Parents are not convinced. While Cheeky Monkeys mostly operated at night, when school children were at home, Merivale’s vision is for an all-day dining and drinking hub that, when combined with the restaurant, retail and massage parlour sites next door, will allow almost 10 per cent of Byron Bay’s permanent population into the venue at any one time.

“People love to use this town as clickbait because a couple of celebrities live here, but the reality is, we’re actually a tiny regional town with just over 6000 people,” said Calvert.

The school zone borders the Merivale site.

The school zone borders the Merivale site. Credit: Natalie Grono

At issue is noise from hundreds of patrons drinking and dining in the venue’s proposed courtyard from seeping into classrooms, drunk diners driving through the school pick-up zone after long lunches, bucks parties or hens, and patrons urinating on the school gates.

“When you have people from out of town coming in and doing huge developments, sometimes they don’t even consider that there might be people living right near there, or schools right where they are,” said Calvert. “And there’s just a complete disregard for the actual town people and whether something is appropriate for that specific location.”

Byron Bay Primary School parent Anna Ockert said schools should be places surrounded by environments that nurture young minds and foster positive role models. “Not venues where alcohol consumption is normalised just metres away,” she said.

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Parents have also taken a dim view of allegations reported by this masthead, including sexual harassment, VIPs with criminal links, and exploitation of staff at Merivale establishments, which it denies. The company is now under investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman over claims it underpaid staff. Dozens of casual employees will be used to staff the new venue.

The parents claim the proposal is also a test of Byron Bay Shire Council’s liquor licensing policy, which specifies “that it may not support any application to locate a premises within 100 metres of a school, place of worship or residential area”. Byron Bay Uniting Church is 73 metres from the site. St Paul’s Anglican Church is even closer.

Those conditions are facing a test in a town that is considering a complete overhaul after it received a grant from the NSW government to introduce a late-night special entertainment precinct familiar to residents of Enmore Road in Sydney’s inner west, which allows venues to trade until 3am.

Byron Bay has been a tourist hotspot since the 1890s. But a series of misfortunes, including COVID-19, the demise of the Blues Fest and Splendour in the Grass festivals and weather disrupted school holidays, have left the local council looking for answers and splitting the local community about how to revitalise the town.

As part of those reforms, the council implemented a restriction on short-stay accommodation last year because the exploding cost of rentals meant essential workers like teachers and nurses were being priced out of the region. The policy restricts 365-day-a-year holiday rentals to the Byron Town area, which mirrors the special entertainment precinct that will envelop the holiday accommodation. But residents say the changes have put the primary school on the border of a proposed precinct that is being geared towards tourists, not locals.

Burt, Byron Bay Council’s director of sustainable environment and economy, said the school was outside the border, meaning residential use and amenity would be retained.

The school is located 70 metres from the proposed border, which encompasses Merivale’s development. Hemmes would be among the biggest beneficiaries if it goes ahead.

Emergency medicine specialist Dr Blake Eddington told a community meeting in July that extended nightlife trading would put a strain on hospital resources that are already struggling to cope in an area that records 1.6 times the rate of non-domestic violence-related assaults in the state.

“The Merivale development sits front and centre within that special entertainment precinct,” said Destination North Coast tourism chair Cameron Arnold. “So you’ve got this whole push and squeeze into where people are going to be staying overnight in an area that’s going to have significantly more licensed venues with late-night trading. It just will not work.”

Arnold said Merivale, with its high profile and expensive fit-outs, is also likely to attract a new clientele.

“The worst experience we had in Byron Bay was through the influencer stage. So we went through this period of those two years where these influences were coming out of capital cities and were walking around the streets as if they owned the place,” he said.

“It was horrible.”

“Looking outside my window now, families are walking around, and there are some backpackers. So there’s a better blend, and Byron’s great when you don’t know where to sit next to a billionaire or a backpacker.”

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