Construction on the $2.1 million upgrade of Byron’s Railway Park is expected to begin April 29, with Council staff saying ‘it will bring the area to life so that it can become a space the community is proud of’.
Byron Shire Council’s general manager Mark Arnold said, ‘The upgrade will see Railway Park celebrated as a meeting place in Byron Bay, connecting the centre of town, the old railway station, the Visitors Centre and the bus interchange’.
‘This is exciting for Byron Bay because it is the first major project delivered from the Byron Bay Town Centre Masterplan,’ Mr Arnold said.
Railway Park as it looks today. Photo Byron Shire Council
The toilets, which are currently located at the southern entrance to Railway Park, will be relocated as part of the upgrade. Temporary toilets will be delivered to the site for public use while the permanent toilets are being relocated and reconnected, which is expected to take approximately four weeks.
Council staff say they are working with NSW Family and Community Services, local stakeholders and specialist homelessness services caseworkers to ‘develop supportive responses for the people currently sleeping in the park or living there during the day who will be displaced during the upgrade period’.
Byron Masterplan Guidance Group chair Chris Hanley said, ‘This exciting project is the culmination of four years of hard work by all members of our community and Council.
‘It is important to recognise the work of mayor Simon Richardson, who deserves full credit for bringing the Byron Bay community together through the extensive masterplan process.
‘A huge thankyou to Council staff, the landscape architect for the project, Dan Plummer, and all members of the Byron Masterplan Guidance Group for getting the project to this point – this is a fantastic result for our community,’ Mr Hanley said.
Council staff added the Railway Park upgrade is the first of the ‘rail precinct’ projects identified in the Byron Bay Town Centre Masterplan, which is aimed at encouraging a pedestrian-prioritised town centre.
2.1 million dollars for even less trees and much much more concrete ??
WHOOPS..
I guess we should be lucky it’s a Green council.
If it were a right-wing council, we’d probably end up with much cheaper aerial bomb drop version.
A park is a rest area. The idea of a park is to NOT to bring it to life but to have it as a dormant area with trees in contrast to all the other drunken areas that are flooded with alcohol and drunks and hoons and crime.
We can’t have a restful dormant area when it has so much economic potential!
Oh how boring you are.. Whats with all your boring people.. If you don’t like this stuff please do us all a favour and move to Kyogle… better still Wiangaree. I feel you will be much happier there.
Gentrification is death.
Perhaps if you moved to the Gold Coast, Rick, if you like ‘this stuff’ so much. It’s good to see some of the local l community seem alert to the issues behind the reclassification of this area from ‘park’. Why was there so little apparent interest though when it was happening?