One of Lismore’s few identified areas for future flood-free industrial development is moving through the planning system, as the city continues to grapple with where businesses can relocate away from the floodplain.
Lismore City Council recently considered a planning proposal for 245 Wyrallah Road, Monaltrie, a 43.9-hectare property on the city’s eastern edge.
The site has been identified in Council’s Growth and Realignment Strategy as containing around nine hectares of land with potential for future industrial use.
Council documents say demand for higher, flood-free industrial land has increased as businesses look for alternatives to flood-prone parts of the city.
The strategy identifies only one other additional future industrial site, around 14 hectares at Three Chain Road, South Lismore, and says no other suitable sites have been identified.
That puts added significance on the Wyrallah Road proposal, which sits within a broader post-flood push to rethink where future employment and industrial development should occur.
The property has a long planning history.
Parts of the site were previously included in a larger residential rezoning proposal, but that concept was later dropped because of issues including servicing, access and topography.
The more recent strategic planning work has instead identified part of the land as a potential industrial growth area.
Council’s Growth and Realignment Strategy says additional industrial land will be needed to accommodate businesses seeking to relocate from the floodplain and to support future employment growth.
The current planning proposal is still at an early stage, with key details including the exact proposed zoning, access arrangements, servicing requirements and development capacity yet to be publicly established through the formal planning process.
The proposal is likely to be closely watched given the limited amount of identified flood-free industrial land available around Lismore and the continuing pressure to relocate jobs and businesses away from flood risk.
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