The rail corridor that runs from the Shirley Street level crossing to the Byron Bay Station at The Railway Friendly Bar will soon be under council management and developed as part of the town centre masterplan activation project.
The Byron Bay Railroad Company (BBRC), who will soon run a train service between Bayshore Drive and a new platform behind Simmos Caltex Service Station, say they ‘do not currently have a use for the corridor.’
The news has been welcomed by mayor Simon Richardson, who told The Echo, ‘Getting access and control of the corridor in this area can allow us to get the fences down, connect town to Butler Street, create a new, passive and open recreation and public space and put some love into what has long been a divider of the town.
‘It will also allow for the return of mass transport when the time is right.’
A 2014 licence agreement with Transport for NSW allows BBRC to operate trains within the corridor between Bayshore Drive and the Byron Bay station, according to development director Jeremy Holmes. The new platform just short of the Shirley Street crossing was built to alleviate ‘the need to stop traffic at this important town entry point.’
Byron Bay Town Centre Committee chair Chris Hanley said, ‘On behalf of the Byron Bay Town Centre Committee we want to thank Byron Bay Railroad Company for giving the licence of this 2.5-acre parcel of land to the council and community so it can be beautified.’
Beneficiaries
‘Our group and the community will be the beneficiaries of this generosity’.
Holmes says, ‘Byron Bay Railroad Company do not currently have a use for the corridor south of the Shirley Street crossing, and we would like to see Byron Council make use of it for community purposes, being a key gateway site into town’.
Retained by govt
‘At the request of BBRC and Byron Shire Council, Transport for NSW will license this rail corridor area to Byron Shire Council for the proposed project. Transport for NSW will however retain the right to resume the area for the purposes of operating trains in the future.’
Mayor Richardson added, ‘I am thrilled with the outcome of this collaboration between council, business and community. Only by open communication and smart resource allocation can we achieve the best for our shire.’
‘Hats off to Byron Bay Railroad Company for getting this ball rolling’.
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