Did you know that much of the new development after 1973 and surrounding lands of Byron Bay are radio active, something like 20 times over the safety limit? Byron was a sand mining town in the mid 20th Century. There were two types of sand around Byron, one radioactive, the other sand kept the radioactive sand safe. They mined out all the safe sand and left large concentrations of the radioactive sand then covered it with 6 feet of topsoil.
The tailings left by the rutile mining and used as land fill between 1934 and 1975 were monozite containing radioactive thorium. The government, in their archaic wisdom, chose NOT to force the mining companies to clean it up. Test it for yourself - get a Geiger Counter and put it on the trees around Byron suburbs, parks, and schools, built after 1975. 
Folks started moving away when the radioactively was made public in 1982, and you could get a cottage on the Belongil spit for $4,000, but after that the celebrities and tourism came and since then everything was hushed up, then forgotten. The same as Byron Council and Police have been hushing up the excessively high violent crime rate in Byron for the past 20 years. When there are heavy rains or new foundations dug or beaches washed away the radioactive waste is exposed or leaches and what you have is a radioactive beach. Also if the sand is exposed and dry it blows in the wind and becomes and aerosol. Byron should not be promoted without radioactive warning signs.
Luckily now we have the internet and we can do our own homework and be informed, instead of being treated like mushrooms by ignorant and negligent developers, real estate agents, and tourism promoters. Hooray for the web!
News Links
The Age - Jul 26, 1983 –
Sand Clean-up Costs Plan .
Sand Clean-up Costs Plan .
The Health Department has identified 112 properties in Byron Bay, and New Brighton affected by radioactive waste dumped during beach sand mining…The Age - Jun 3, 1982 -
Sleepy Borough .Wakes In Fear Of Radiation
Sleepy Borough .Wakes In Fear Of Radiation
Byron Bay, a town which was known only for its lighthouse, swamps, surfing breaks - the sand mining company sustained it for half a century, is now a town divided ...
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