Looking to the future of Mullumbimby around 60 people gathered at the Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club on Tuesday evening to share their ideas as part of the Mullum Big Picture Show (MBPS).
From housing to river health, a range of ideas were put forward by speakers before those gathered broke into smaller groups to further work on and share ideas.
‘The MBPS brought the community together to hear some perspectives on matters that matter,’ presenter and chamber member Suvira McDonald told The Echo following the event.
‘MC’d by the legendary Mandy Nolan, the program featured Mayor Michael Lyon speaking about the progress of Our Mullum Masterplan, The Burringbar Street upgrade and the old Mullum Hospital rezoning to residential.’
Chamber president Paul Prior said that the evening brought the community together with a ‘common thread of people wanting to improve things. It is not all about business, it is about our liveable community.
‘Through the love of Mullumbimby, we have a common interest to come together in a space where everyone can have a say and provide input where their passion is. There are all these different things people can be involved in,’ he explained.
MC Mandy Nolan said the event was an important ‘visioning’ process for the Mullumbimby community.’
‘Unless you have these robust and creative conversations you will end up with mediocre outcomes for the town and its surrounds,’ she pointed out.
‘The vision of the Big Picture Show is to invite the community to be part of shaping the kind of town and community that they want to live in by sharing ideas that are both achievable and seemingly fantastic.
‘Mayor Michael Lyon gave an overview of the Mullumbimby Master Plan and Suvira McDonald presented on the history and vision of events including the street party, sculpture and other cultural ideas.
‘Jeanette Martin presented her vision for a Mullumbimby Environment Centre and Malcolm Price spoke about the potential for a small village and arts precinct on the old Mullum Hospital Site. The health of the Brunswick River was also a focus provided by Techa Beaumont,’ said Mandy.
‘I commend the Mullum Chamber of Commerce for inviting the community to be part of this visioning process. The ideas being presented were rooted in supporting the arts, affordable housing, and strong values around environmental protection and sustainability. It is clear that these are the core values of our community.
‘Very often people get criticised for these events with people saying they are a talkfest but this is where it happens. It is where the ideas come from. Mullum Big Picture is looking at heaving more of these events so that we can get a wide range of ideas for the future of the town. This means we can then feed these important ideas back to the council, developers, state and federal governments etc so that we can help shape the future of our town.’
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. 
