Byron Shire Council has released its future vision for the Shire’s north, which proposes improvements for what has been known to be a neglected part of the Shire.
For the month of April, the Draft Place Plan for New Brighton, South Golden Beach, and Ocean Shores will be on public exhibition so that locals can have their say on what’s planned and suggest their own ideas.
The vision
Among the suggested projects are turning the Tom Kendall Sports Field into a multi-use village green, and building a second oval at Bob Bellear Sports Field.
There are also extensive plans to improve pedestrian, cyclist, and driver safety across the northern Shire with a specific focus on beach and village centre carparks, key intersections and introducing traffic calming measures to reduce vehicle speeds in residential streets.
Closely connected to this is the Council’s plan to introduce an extensive and strategic network of paths and cycleways across the three towns as a way of increasing opportunities for connection and active transport.
It is hoped this will complement improvements in public transport, though the Council appears to be relying on the state government to take the lead on this idea – something that has been tried in the past with little success.
Funding sources
It appears that state government funding will also be relied upon to make many of Council’s ideas a reality.
‘The speed and success of the Place Plan implementation will heavily depend on finding appropriate funding sources for each project,’ Council’s Place Liaison Officer, Stephanie McMurray said in her report to this week’s Council meeting where the plan will be up for debate.
‘Funding source options can include: federal, state and local grants, Byron Shire developer contributions, Byron Shire Council annual budget as informed by Council’s Operational Plan, and community funds.’
One idea that may not require government funds, however, is Council’s vision for the Ocean Shores shopping centre.
Among its top 20 priority projects is to ‘encourage the Ocean Shores Shopping Centre area to evolve into a town centre’, something which locals have been requesting for more than 20 years.
This Draft Place Plan was developed with contributions from the New Brighton, South Golden Beach and Ocean Shores communities, including local Minjungbal and Bundjalung representatives, community groups and associations, local school students and business owners.
Council also established a Stakeholder Reference Group, made up of community representatives and other stakeholders (such as technical experts and government agencies). It is proposed that feedback from the public exhibition period will lead to a final Place Plan, which will be reported to councillors for adoption in June.
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