I attended the Brunswick Progress Associations (BPA) meeting on 6/07/2026 at the CWA for a discussion on the impact the proposed Gulgan Village development will have on the current infrastructure.
Thank you to the members of the BPA for making this information session available.
The developer, Mr Brandon Saul, was present to answer questions, plus the relieving director of sustainable development and a town planner.
There were some very interesting questions asked as to the impact of the Gulgan Village development.
One was: has anyone from Byron Council spoken about concerns as to the impact of the development on the current infrastructure, the answer, from Mr Saul, was ‘no’.
Also, the impact on the current sewerage infrastructure was raised.
One member of the BPA, Patricia Warren, presented some very well-researched and factual information as to the impact of the combined sewage loads from the Gulgan Village and also the sewage load from the proposed closure of Ocean Shores STP (OSSTP) would have on Brunswick Valley STP (BVSTP). No real answers from Council staff present were forthcoming.
I would hope an interested elected councillor would ask Patricia Warren if they could discuss the information.
Also there was confusion as to where the sewage from the Gulgan Village would be delivered and how.
Initially, it was stated it would go to OSSTP via a new rising main which seemed strange. It was finally established that the Gulgan Village sewage would go to the sewer pump station at the Brunswick Heads sporting fields, and then be pumped to BVSTP.
There was discussion around this, and Mr Saul said he had been informed by Council’s sewer engineer that the pump station had the capacity to handle the extra load.
The problem with that, is the pump station is the only conveyor. The concern should be the effect of the hydraulic load on BVSTP. This is significant in a biological reduction plant such as BVSTP and that should be the consideration.
The question was asked as to where the information came from that the sewage from the village was going to OSSTP – the answer was from the Byron Shire Council director of infrastructure at a previous meeting.
Also raised was the extremely low utilisation of solar. Mr Saul gave reasons for that, I believe it was explained as a costing issue.
Mr Saul was quite upfront about infrastructure and correctly stated he is responsible for the infrastructure on his development, not outside it – that is Council’s responsibility.
There was one other issue raised, it was that Council has now changed how developer contributions are managed. It seems they no longer are applied, for example, to water or sewer.
If a development increases the impact on those parts of the Council’s infrastructure the contributions are now lumped together and Council decides where they go. This was confirmed by the relieving Council director present.
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