Jenny Coman, Secretary, Bangalow Progress Association.
It seems Bangalow is to be bookended by industry. Our village, once described on a highway sign as ‘Such a Pretty Place’, is likely to have new, large industrial developments either side of its two main entries. Council is considering promoting a ‘food hub’ on the RMS site coming in from the east, strongly opposed by the community as the initial agreement was that the site be restored to the pre-existing grassy hill, while a new DA for a similar but probably larger processing centre on the Lismore road, coming in from the west, has been passed on by Council to the Joint Regional Planning Panel as its value has been assessed as sufficiently high to give it ‘State significant’ status.
Bangalow residents need to be concerned about the consequences of such developments for our town and I urge people to come to our next Bangalow Progress Association meeting on this Thursday (June 2) at 5.30pm in Heritage House to discuss them.
With TOOTs and Northern Rivers Railway Action Group wanting the train reinstated this will give them more ammunition to push the government to proceed . Development especially industrial will allow them to push for a 24/7 railway freight corridor through Bangalow. The western Bangalow industrial estate is positioned right next to the train corridor ,perfect for loading and unloading containers . Bangalow could be become the freight centre for the north end of the Northern Rivers.
Freight trains mostly run at night during off peak hours (access to the line is cheaper) , expect a bit of rumbling through nearby houses. During the day it will become a half hourly commuter train line and probably hourly commuter trains between 6pm and 1pm.
Bangalow can look forward to a noisy rumbling future when the train line is reinstated.
But if TOOTs and NRRAG listened to the government experts they would be promoting the railway line following the Pacific and Bruxner Highways between Tweed Heads and Casino with multimodal transport stations located at the highway exits.
You can’t have trains without expecting development along its route, expect plenty of housing subdivisions along the Bangalow Rd to Lismore , the added industrial estate will pale into insignificance compared to sea of roofs of suburbia .
Now who wants the train line through the heart of Bangalow again!
How can people contact the Bangalow Progress Association ? The only contact details are old and out of date ie Ian R at Talofa ! He has been gone for a fair while now.
It does not appear to have a website or Facebook page . How can we become members and give input into the progress of Bangalow without at least a web presence.
The Suffolk Park Progress Association has a web site and emails its members with a newsletter and updates .