Byron Shire Council is asking Bangalow residents to do a bit of ‘brainstorming’ and come up with some ideas for the underutilised stretch of rail corridor that bisects the town.
Using the software ‘brainstormer’ residents can log in and register their ideas – although it seems that it being launched in the ‘silly season’ has resulted in just a couple of residents taking up the challenge so far.
Some of the suggestions the council has come up with include:
- a low-key community recreation pedestrian precinct
- a flexible space for community events and activities
- the creation of pedestrian connections between the village centre and the residential areas to the north and west
- a children’s play space
- restoration of the station building
- protection of the tracks for future railway use
- saving the important heritage structures
- providing additional parking for weekend events
- enhaninge the northern entry point into the town centre and rail corridor parklands – Memorial Park (at the top of Byron Street, near the public amenities).
The council says feedback is needed by Wednesday, January 25.
If using the app isn’t exactly a ‘no brainer’ for you, ideas can also be handwritten and dropped in to the Bangalow Newsagency or at the community information stand at the Bangalow’s Saturday Farmers Markets on January 14 and 21.
Mnnnnn. So where is the train?
Hmmm, now what would be a good use for a rail corridor?
Fantastic idea and a concept that could work a treat.
One only question, who will pay for it?
Given the increasing traffic congestion in our towns and lack of accessible transport, increasing global warming, Byron Shire residents should demand the valuable rail corridor be used for what it was built for-regular train services to provide transport for locals and around 2 million tourists, to and around the north coast. At the same time get some of the cars off our dangerous roads and make it easier for locals to get around their towns. What a radical idea.
Thank you.
Spot-on , Loiuse , but sorry – your idea is too sensible and therefore will not be considered.
Perhaps the NSW government might reject any “demand” by the the Byron Shire people provide them with a highly subsidized public transport service, when higher priority transport needs have been identified in the regional transport plan, and better ways to provide public transport to all the region. The survey on transport in the region shows those people driving cars who might use public transport are looking for better timetabled services, and not a train – it will not get more than a small percent of cars off the road, it won’t do it as well as better bus services , and will cost a lot more (particularity in recurrent costs). Trains are not a good way for people to get around the towns unless you take the very parochial view that only those that are in the Byron Shire matter – that people do not need to travel for example to employment opportunities in fast growing areas like Ballina and the Tweed Coast, or to the towns that have the main external transport hubs, Ballina and Coolangatta. Train services are not a radical idea. They are a good way to shift large numbers of people along linear routes like the Brisbane – Gold Coast, but they do not provide a good transport solution in a dispersed population like the Northern Rivers. The people of the Byron Shire should join those in Lismore City and in other shires in the region, and ask, politely, for better bus services – then their local state member might then start to act on public transport issues.
But the train line doesn’t go ‘around the north coast’. It is a one line, single track rail that travels THROUGH the north coast. You people talk of it as though it’s a web of two-way rail links like the London Underground or something, spreading like a net through the whole northern rivers solving all our transport problems. If you don’t live near one of the very few stations, and you’re not going to one of the very few centres it passes through, then it’s completely useless.
And local residents ‘should demand the valuable rail corridor be used for what it was built for.’ You mean demand the State Government finds $990m (where from) and rather than spend it on vital education or health facilities for our aging population, or desperately needed commuter line extensions in gridlocked Sydney which move millions of people per week, you demand they spend it on this single line, one-way track through some country backwater instead. Seriously, Louise, you’re dreaming. And so are your mates. It’s not going to happen.
Would make a great coffee stop on the cycle way to Byron Bay!
Bangalow needs a 24/7 train system for commuters during daylight hours and freight during the night . A multi-storey Carpark opposite the train station to hold all the cars belonging to Ballina and Lennox Head residents.
Station street needs to be widened to allow school buses and local buses access to drop off passengers .
An easy access route from the railway station to the pub and shops for all the Gold Coast visitors coming via the train .
Yes Bangalow will thrive with this 24/7 train system.
Ha! You’re hilarious.
So, because the council does not have a billion dollars to spend on a toy railway, again the rail lobby will do its best to kill off any other idea for the corridor. The corridor infrastructure will sit for decades to come, rotting away through pig-headedness while no railway will ever be built.
How about puting the train back?
All very good but…no sign of a train !!
I find it funny cause they have almost included everything they can possibly think of in a rail corridor without including a train! Not to say the idea isn’t great – I think this is wonderful to see some initiative that keeps the tracks in place. I just mean, common people, is it really that hard to put a train in a rail corridor? The benefits to the community would be huge!
Edit: I meant “come on” where it says “common” in my comment
‘Is it really so hard to put a train in a rail corridor?’ Well, Gary, yes it is. It is hard. And it’s expensive. It is a rusty old rail line with rotten sleepers and various sections are missing where unsafe bridges have been removed. It will all need to be replaced. The bridges will need to be replaced too, and there are many. This work has been estimated to cost $990m. This does not include the cost of the actual trains or the running of the trains or the ongoing maintenance of trains and track and staffing.
Do you have a cheeky $990m laying around to fund this, Gary? No neither do I. Nor does Byron Council, or Lismore Council, or the State Gov, or the Federal Gov. Even if they did have a cheeky $990m laying around and they were faced with deciding where to spend it, where do you think a joyride choo choo train through the countryside is going to feature on their priorities list? Somewhere between health and education? I think not.
Do you know how much the new Byron Central Hospital cost? $88m. Do you know how much the proposed new Tweed Hospital will cost? $250m.
So what do you think a State Gov faced with a rapidly aging population, a desperately overstretched health system and limited funds would choose to spend $990m on? A joyride choo-choo train on a single lane track in the countryside or eleven Byron size hospitals? Or four Tweed size hospitals? Or of course other important infrastructure projects like schools. parks, roads etc.
You might argue it wouldn’t cost that much, you might argue it would only cost $500m, but the point remains, no government would choose to gamble $500m on hoping commuters leave their cars at home and re-jig their schedules to fit with a limited, infrequent and inconvenient train service when they can be 100% certain that several new hospitals (or schools, or whatever) will not only get used but are desperately needed.
In his comment above, Chris makes the point that the pro-train lobby’s pigheadedness is killing off any reasonable ideas for the rail corridor, and of course he’s right. The point he misses though is the ignorance and misguidedness of the casual train supporter who don’t understand enough about how it all works to make an educated call on which side to support. Believe it or not, I am a train supporter, I live in Bangalow and could think of nothing more wonderful than hopping on the train to the beach on a Saturday morning with the kids. But you know what? It’s not going to happen! No government will ever fund this over other vital public projects. All you people are doing is preventing something, anything, happening with this amazing facility. Let it go.
Mr. Underhill, unfortunately folks, is the only one being realistic in the comments here.
The gigantic cost in refurbishing tracks, bridges, stations, is only a beginning. I now live close to a single track service near Parramatta (the Carlingford line) and the service is regularly shut down for a full weekend, to do maintenance on track etc. So maintenance costs need to be taken into consideration.
Re-opening of the railway would be wonderful but unless a multi-millionaire decides to fund it, it will not happen.