Monday night saw Mullumbimby residents and businesses come out in force to attend a public meeting raising serious concerns about the viability, impact, and long-term outcomes for the town of the Byron Shire Council (BSC) sponsored development of the public car park at 57 Station Street at the entrance to the town.
Landcom development application (DA 10.2025.212.1) proposes a three-storey, 11.7m building that will be by ‘far the tallest building in town’ should it be approved said Mullumbimby Residents Association (MRA) meeting organisor Anando Hefly.
This significantly exceeds the nine metres that Cr Michael Lyon stated it would have at the previous, and again packed-house, meeting held by the community raising their concerns about the DA in February.
The MRA were at pains to highlight that they support affordable and social housing but believe that this $16.5 million development is proposed for the wrong site and would have far better outcomes if built at the larger, significantly less-constrained site that is currently the BSC car park.
They said this would see around 65 units provided rather than the 32 proposed for the current site. The old Mullumbimby Hospital site described on the BSC website as ‘rare flood-free land in Mullum,’ was also mentioned.
Speakers, both residents and professionals from the areas of architecture, sewer and business, spent several hours raising points about the DA, highlighting where it failed to meet the requirements set out by local, state and federal regulations.
Many locals believe the development fails to meet heritage requirements despite the fact that the Everick Heritage report stated that, ‘The proposed development is sympathetic to heritage significance and character of the conservation area and will have little to no impact on the visual cohesion or integrity of the conservation area. It will also have little to no impact on heritage items in the vicinity’ which elicited laughter from the audience.
The loss of car parking and the significant cost to ratepayers of building new ‘interim’ car parks that could cost between $750,000 and $1.5 million was raised, along with the fact that all proposed alternative car parks would involve crossing the busiest roads in town to access the CBD.
The meeting also pointed out that one of the proposed car parking sites at the entrance to town was designated as the ‘green entrance’ to the town by the Mullumbimby Masterplan.
The impacts on existing local residents and businesses were of key concerns.
The impact of fill on flooding (the site was covered in water during the 2022 floods); the narrow and busy McGoughans Lane site access; and the impact the development will have on adjacent local businesses including the IGA deliveries, and rear access required for other businesses including the Pink Lotus and The Other Joint to operate were raised.
The removal of the only 24-hour public toilet with the suggestion that the public can use local businesses’ toilets was raised, as well as the fact that the unique design of the toilets by local celebrated architect Christine Vadasz should be preserved.
Who can afford it?
While the proposal has been touted as addressing the impact of homelessness in the area the DAs Mullumbimby Engagement Summary Report stated the rent will be set ‘in accordance with affordable housing guidelines.
The rent will be capped at a percentage below market rate, usually 74.9 per cent of market.’ Similar affordable housing units in Mullumbimby, managed by community housing providers, have previously required applicants to have a minimum income of $80,000 to $100,000 to apply for these affordable housing units, thus keeping the rent to 30 per cent of the applicant’s income.
Byron Shire councillors David Warth and Elia Hague both attended the meeting listening to the concerns of the community.
Following the meeting Cr Hauge then told The Echo, ‘I’m committed in principle to seeing appropriate and genuinely affordable housing at 57 Station Steet, and other suitable sites in and around Mullumbimby. However, like many in the community, I’m concerned at the lack of detail presented in the DA documentation – particularly around critical infrastructure and services such as sewer, stormwater, traffic, flooding and trade waste.’
‘While I respect that some feel the project would be more appropriate on another site, the reality is that this would send us back to the drawing board and delay our ability to deliver any affordable housing in Mullumbimby by a number of years.
This is an unacceptable outcome in a housing crisis. We have a responsibility to do everything we can to ensure the most vulnerable in our community have access to safe, secure, genuinely affordable housing.’
There were many at the meeting who expressed concern that this development would not actually provide housing for people who are homeless and who genuinely need it and that councillors were subject to the ‘sunk cost fallacy’ rather than representing the genuine public interest of businesses, residents, and local housing needs.
The MRA speakers made it clear that individual, unique submissions to Byron Council on the DA were the most effective way to express your concerns, in addition to talking directly to councillors themselves.
If you need assistance with understanding the issues or how to put together a submission you can email MRA at [email protected].
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. 
