‘A leap of faith’ is how mayor Simon Richardson described the adoption of the Byron Bay town centre masterplan at last Thursday’s Council meeting.
After 18 months of development, the revised masterplan now features a redesigned foreshore parkland, a pedestrian-prioritised town centre, a ‘focus on place-making and the public domain’, a reinvigorated railway square and ‘enhanced village entry points.’
Jonson Street will be upgraded, with a ‘unique materials palette’ to distinguish it as the primary town-centre street.
The result will be ‘increased local residential and commercial opportunities,’ connecting with the wetlands around the Sandhills area.
Mayor Richardson said, ‘We’ve had over 2,000 community inputs into the plan’s development.’
And while he says it will guide our thinking, ‘it is not prescriptive.’
He says a governance group will now be established to help implement the plan.
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