'What has happened to the locals of Byron Bay… so sad': Woman slams her new neighbours for dobbing her in to the police for moving house
- Susan McLaughlin blasted her new neighbours in a Facebook group on Friday
- The Byron bay local said they called the police because she was moving house
- Many said they were not surprised- behaviour has changed since the pandemic
- Moving house is one of 16 reasonable excuses people can leave home in NSW
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
A woman has blasted her new neighbours for dobbing her in to police for moving house amid coronavirus restrictions.
Susan McLaughlin posted to a Byron Bay community Facebook page on Friday to vent how she was 'sick of people's bad behaviour' after her relocation was interrupted by authorities.
'I am entitled to move house without the new neighbours calling the police,' she wrote in a heated post.
'What has happened to the locals of Byron ... so sad and disappointing.
A Byron Bay local has hit out at her new neighbours after they dobbed her in to the police believing she had broken NSW COVID-19 restrictions. However, hundreds of tourists and locals were pictured ignore social distancing to enjoy sunset at Byron Bay on March 23
'I’m pretty sure that if given the chance the locals would install a public hanging area.'
In NSW, moving house falls under one of the 16 reasonable excuses people can leave home.
Many locals said they were not surprised to hear about Ms McLaughlin's experience.
'It is so so sad. But to be honest predictable,' one man said.
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'Yep here we go again, so called locals making judgement calls. Completely out of line calling the cops. What happened to a neighbourly over the fence convo?' another person wrote.
Others said there had been a noticeable shift in the community's behaviour since the pandemic, and reinforced that her actions were well within the NSW restriction guidelines.
'Like every where world wide people are behaving badly because they are in fear and angry,' one comment read.
Someone else said: 'Back in the day locals would have told the authorities to get f***ed over all this. Now look whats happening. Byron culture has been ruined that's for sure.
Ms McLaughlin slammed her neighbours for dobbing her in for moving house despite relocating households complying with NSW government COVID-19 restrictions
'One of the few concessions regarding the restrictions is if you have to move house. The people who dobbed this lady are not only unkind, but dopey,' a woman added.
People who do not abide by the state's restrictions face fines of up to $11,000 and a maximum of six months in jail.
NSW Police can also hand out $1000 on-the-spot fines to those caught breaking rules and not self-isolating at home if ordered to do so, while businesses can be fined $55,000.
Despite some Northern Rivers residents reporting behaviour changes, hundreds of tourists and locals were pictured ignoring social distancing rules to sit on the beach as the sunset at the end of last month.
The popular backpacker town has since ramped up its testing, setting up a free pop-up clinic and urging overseas travellers to stay away.
Nationwide, there are 6394 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 61 deaths and 3499 recoveries.
It comes after police turned up to a Sydney mother's home on Thursday over reports she was illegally hosting a birthday party for her 13-year-old son.
Neighbours saw close family friends driving past to leave presents outside and mistook the scene as parents dropping of their children.
Earlier this month, a Victorian couple were fined $3000 after someone reported them to police for 'non-essential travel' after they shared year-old snaps of a previous holiday on Facebook. The penalty was later revoked.
