Tony Hart, president, Bangalow Progress Association.
Bangalow residents and friends love our town because of its village atmosphere, its heritage feel and above all, its surrounding rolling hills, trees and pastoral area.
Last year’s Have Your Say, Bangalow survey confirmed this.
Residents worry about inappropriate development and growth, the increasing amount of traffic passing through the town, especially the main street, and the seemingly continual pressures of suburban sprawl.
Recent months have seen development pressures all around Bangalow – the proposed Lismore Rd food processing site on an industrial scale, the council’s continuing desire to convert the RMS land at the Bangalow interchange from restored pasture to another food hub or industrial estate, a 300 person seniors’ residential development on our western edge and upgrading of the Lismore to Ewingsdale transport corridor that will bring more traffic through the town instead of using the motorway.
The coming council election gives the Bangalow community the opportunity to slow or stop the inexorable growth that was the result of the previous development-obsessed majority on council.
But Bangalow must cast its votes carefully to take advantage of this opportunity.
It is BPA’s view that only four of the groups offering for council are likely to stand up effectively for Bangalow’s interests.
These are Group A – Basil Cameron’s Our Sustainable Future, Group B – Simon Richardson and The Greens, Group C – Paul Spooner’s Country Labor and Group H – Catherine Coorey’s Community Byron team.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
