Byron Shire and the North Coast is one of the fastest-growing regions on NSW’s east coast with millions of tourists, not a dying country town.
Thousands of locals have been calling for upgraded train services for decades. They have not been campaigning for the train line to be destroyed for a bike track.
As researched and reported by the Local Government Association, for far too long state governments have been cost shifting billions of their responsibilities onto under resourced local government and ratepayers. Council cannot continue to allow the state government to shift the enormous costs of road transport-upgrading and maintaining roads-for millions of tourists, on to 16,000 ratepayers. That’s not fair or sustainable!!
Locals complain constantly about traffic congestion, parking problems, the dangerous state of local roads and lack of maintenance of other essential infrastructure.
There’s so much need in our community and council tells us they do not have the funds to provide and maintain basic services. Ratepayers resent the spending of multi -millions of taxpayers’ money-that’s over $2.8m per kilometer, or $200m, for a bike track from Crabbes Creek to Lismore. They also resent the destruction of a multi-billion-dollar rail line which could reduce traffic, road maintenance and parking problems in our towns, at the same time saving 16,000 ratepayers some of the enormous cost of upgrading and maintaining roads for millions of tourists.
It cost just $660,000 per kilometre to repair the line in Byron for a train. Which means it would cost just over $21m to repair 132kms of line from Casino to Murwillumbah for trains. Even if that amount is doubled to account for rising costs, spending $200m, or almost five times more, on a bike track for so little community benefit is beyond crazy.
In this age of climate crisis our first priority should be to utilise the multi-billion-dollar train line to get the climate destroying gas guzzlers out of our towns, not increasing them.
Rail trails/bike tracks were never meant to replace train services in communities with fast growing populations and millions of tourists.
Another 550 homes to be built soon we’re told.
No independent assessment has been done to verify the economic, or any benefits, of the Tweed bike track. But it’s obvious to locals and businesses that this expensive bike track has provided no economic, social or environmental benefits.
There are more empty shops and cafes with for lease signs on them in Murwillumbah now than before the trail opened, including the cafe opposite Murwillumbah station and the trail. That’s before you consider the dangerous ebikes on the isolated trail. Tweed Council admits even if speed limits were introduced for ebikes it would be impossible to police them.
Over the busy Christmas and Easter holiday period from November 2023 to March 2024 NRRT’s own estimate of trail use shows an average of 5,543 people per month used the trail.
Records show twice the number of paying patrons, an average of 10,833 used the one daily train service per month. That train service returned more for every dollar spent than Sydney trains.
There are more people and families cycling around Brunswick Heads and spending money in shops and cafes on weekends than in towns along the expensive bike track.
What ratepayers want is the traffic out of our towns to make them safe for pedestrians and cyclists again, and to be able to find a car park at the beach or the shops. They want council to do their job and ensure basic infrastructure and services are provided and maintained adequately-especially local roads, bike paths and drains.
Many suburban streets in the centre of towns, as we see in Mullumbimby, are full of craters and dangerous. Many suburban streets still have no curbing or guttering! No wonder they flood.
Byron Shire ratepayers pay some of the highest rates in the country. We’re told rates are going up again to pay for roads, road maintenance and services for millions of tourists. Then we’re told to pay for parking at the beach or shops.
From the many complaints from ratepayers it’s obvious that Byron council needs to stick to their core business. Council should not be spending so much time and ratepayers’ money applying for eyewatering amounts of taxpayers’ money to rip up a multi-billion-dollar train line in a region that’s been campaigning for decades for upgraded train services that not only reduce traffic, but are more environmentally, socially and cost effective than building and maintaining more roads.
Not only is eyewatering amounts of public money being wasted, the transport needs of this community and ratepayers, and valuable public transport infrastructure are treated with absolute contempt.
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. 
