It is the age-old story – the lack of public transport across the Northern Rivers that leads to high car ownership and a failure of local and regional public transport infrastructure and use.
Ballina Shire Mayor, and independent candidate for the seat of Ballina in the 2027 state elections, Sharon Cadwallader, says it is time for a radical new approach to public transport in the Northern Rivers.
Cr Cadwallader has called for a halt on the finalisation of the NSW government’s North Coast transport strategy telling The Echo that, ‘the North Coast is too large – the Northern Rivers needs its own network’.
Cr Cadwallader pointed out that Census figures revealed just one per cent of employed residents in Ballina and Byron shires used public transport to get to work compared with 22.8 per cent in Greater Sydney, saying the figures were unacceptable and demonstrated the need for fundamental reform.
‘By any reasonable measure of its effectiveness as a commuter network, our current public transport system is dysfunctional,’ she told The Echo.
‘Residents are overwhelmingly dependent on private vehicles, with serious consequences for household costs, housing affordability, employment opportunities and access to essential services.’
The current Draft North Coast Strategic Regional Integrated Transport Plan, was developed ‘in partnership with councils, industry and communities,’ stated the report.
The draft covers the area from the Queensland border down to Port Macquarie and west to the Great Dividing Range.
Cr Cadwallader points out that while this may be appropriate for broad infrastructure planning, it is too large and diverse to serve as the principal framework for designing an integrated local and regional public transport service.
‘The Northern Rivers needs its own integrated public transport network, connecting communities from Evans Head to Tweed Heads and west to Casino and Lismore,’ she said.
‘The Northern Rivers is a distinct region, with its own economy, population centres, employment patterns and transport needs. Its population of more than 300,000 is broadly comparable with the estimated population served by Newcastle’s integrated transport network.’
Cr Cadwallader says that the integrated Newcastle transport plan could serve as a model for the Northern Rivers bringing together the range of transport options available to better serve the community.
Funding equity
Cr Cadwallader is also calling for funding equity ‘as an explicit goal’ of the plan.
‘We cannot properly examine service improvements without first understanding what the government already spends, how that compares with other regions and what investment is required to provide practical services,’ she said.
As part of assessing the transport needs of the Northern Rivers Cr Cadwallader said the government needs to release the 51 written submissions and more than 2,000 contributions through an online mapping exercise that contributed to the development of the North Coast report.
‘The public deserves to know what advice was given, what proposals were put forward and which recommendations the government accepted or rejected,’ she said.
‘Consultation is not transparent if the community is told who was consulted but cannot see what they recommended.’
Cr Cadwallader said the new Northern Rivers assessment needs to build on the current research of the report which should form the foundation of a ‘redesigned, customer-focused Northern Rivers public transport strategy’.
‘We don’t need to repeat the work already done. We need to build on it, fill the gaps in the evidence and give the community meaningful choices about the future transport network,’ said Cr Cadwallader.
‘A cheaper home is not necessarily more affordable if a family needs two cars to get to work, take children to school and access healthcare. Better public transport could expand housing choices, connect workers with employment and reduce household transport costs.
‘Instead of disconnected services, operators and timetables, we need One Region. One Network. One Timetable.
‘This is a radical new approach to regional transport planning, but it is based on principles the NSW government has already applied in Newcastle.’
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