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Byron Shire
March 29, 2024

Rail corridor can have so much more

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Urgent appeal

At last Thursday’s Byron Council meeting a long and dedicated campaign to save rail tracks and restore trains in...

You don’t have to be a town planner to know that Byron council’s preferred option for a town bypass will do little or nothing to solve traffic congestion in Byron.

The same tens of thousands of cars will swarm over the same little roundabout on Shirley Street at Simmo’s corner. Given the increased flows foreshadowed in the future developments proposed for Ewingsdale Road this number will increase exponentially over the coming years. Byron council’s preferred option is impractical, unimaginative and downright foolish.

I am astounded that the Council has decided to ignore the ‘rail corridor option’ and has refused to question the NSW government about the future use of the rail beyond the so called ‘rail trail’.

Is there another agenda at play here? Given recent NSW government legislation in terms of releasing crown land etc for private leasing, the rail corridor land will be prime land to privatise. The people of Byron should be very careful that the rail land doesn’t end up in the hands of developers. Do we want the same problems that Brunswick Heads faces?

The creative and practical solution to Byron’s traffic problem is to add an extra roundabout on Ewingsdale Road at Kendall St (Woolie’s service station). This will draw a significant proportion of the ‘in coming’ traffic off Shirley Street before it hits the Shirley street roundabout at Simmon’s corner.

A Kendall Street roundabout would allow traffic to detour down behind Byron Lane. This road would link up with the rail corridor where traffic can be carried to the southern ends of the CBD. More than a bypass, this could be an effective solution to disburse the traffic into multiple locations south of Byron’s CBD. In the years to come the bypass can be extended down to Cemetery Road, future proofing usage.

This solution is simple, effective and functional and comes with many added benefits to the town. The rail corridor can be transformed into a broad landscaped avenue where traffic, parking, bicycles and rail coexist.

The avenue could become an arts precinct where, like in many vibrant towns and cities in Europe, it can be closed off on occasions to allow for all sorts of community events.

Isn’t this what we are about? At last Byron could have a true ‘meeting place’ for locals and visitor alike. And yes, there would be tremendous opportunities for local businesses, employing local people. This is the solution Byron deserves, a solution in keeping with the nature and aspirations of our town.

Council has a choice; to continue down a path that locks the town into a Byron of the past with its ‘constipated’ infrastructure and unimaginative town planning or it can ‘dare to be different’.

The ‘rail corridor’ option seizes the opportunity and embrace functional, yet aesthetically beautiful, urban renewal. It is a solution that heralds an optimistic future for Byron, a solution of positive change. Council must reconsider it.

Robert Owens, Broken Head


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1 COMMENT

  1. The connection between Butler St and Kendall St may well be “simple, effective and functional” but requires building a new road through wetlands that is close to twice as long as Council’s proposed extension to Butler St. It also requires a new road bridge across Belongil drain! If Council’s bypass is going to cost $10M, then this is going to cost $20M plus.

    Without the Kendall St roundabout and connecting road the GTR proposal has all the same problems as the Council plan, namely “tens of thousands of cars will swarm over the same little roundabout on Shirley Street at Simmo’s corner”.

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