With the absence of all four of its progressive councillors for various reasons, Ballina Council pushed ahead with its agenda at yesterday’s monthly meeting, including a decision which is likely to close Ross Lane for months while the road is upgraded.
Council voted unanimously to authorise Mayor Sharon Cadwallader to write to the NSW government confirming Ballina’s support to remove the Emergency Services Levy, subject to a replacement model not disadvantaging local councils.
The draft homelessness strategy for the shire also found unanimous support, with GM Paul Hickey to hold discussions with Mary’s Place and Orange Sky in respect to providing infrastructure and in kind support for service delivery.
Ballina Council is seeking increased funding to frontline support agencies, education for residents about the issue and increased powers for NSW Police to move rough sleepers on where there is evidence of anti-social behaviour.
Council voted unanimously to adopt the new beach debris management policy, and the amended community gardens policy.
The latest Filming on Public Land policy is going on public exhibition and will be adopted if no submissions are received.
Councillors resolved to write off almost $2,000 in unpaid rates and charges, and resolved unanimously to approve the exhibition of the draft Ballina Shire Economic Development and Visitor Economy Strategy 2026-2031, which includes a planning proposal for Council land to the north of Airport Boulevard.
Tenders
Regarding the airport, a tender for a new checked baggage x-ray system was approved for Smiths Detection, at a cost of $670,580, to be sourced from Airport Reserve funds.
Tenders were declined for the expansion of the airport car park, with the GM authorised to negotiate for that job directly.
At Wardell, Ballina Council resolved unanimously to spend $685,350 upgrading the boardwalk and foreshore area, which was seriously damaged in the 2022 floods.
A $897,294 tender from Energus Pty Ltd was accepted to upgrade the solar PV system for the Ballina Wastewater Treatment Plant, with a $844,923 tender from GRC Civil accepted to fix the Tamarind Drive/Marom Cr Rd landslip.
Ross Lane
Regarding Ross Lane, a tender was accepted from Hazell Bros (QLD) to improve the flood resilience of this regularly flooded road.
The chosen option is expected to result in the closure of Ross Lane to through traffic for a period of approximately nine weeks.
Ballina Council says that not building an alternative temporary route is estimated to save more than $500,000 in total construction costs for the project, although it will obviously inconvenience many locals and cause additional congestion on alternative routes to the north and south.
Council approved an increase to the total project budget to $4.351 million, as detailed in this report, with the additional funding of $450,000 to be sought if possible from the NSW Reconstruction Authority.
If that funding is not forthcoming, Ballina Council says it will pay for the new roadwork with a combination of funding from the Heavy Haulage Developer Contributions Plan and the Tintenbar to Ewingsdale Highway Bypass Reserve. All councillors voted unanimously.
Crs Erin Karsten, Therese Crollick, Kiri Dicker, and Simon Chate were all absent from the August meeting.
More stories about Ballina Shire Council:
The agenda for Thursday's meeting includes six notices of motion from four councillors, with issues including missing persons, volunteer recognition, and arts funding. Construction on a $4.35 million flood-resilience upgrade of Ross Lane at Lennox Head is due to begin today, ahead of a nine-week closure of the busy road later this month. With Ballina Shire Council General Manager Paul Hickey deciding to retire after almost twenty years in the role, and even longer as a staff member, the task of finding a replacement has begun. Cr Damien Loone was also returned as Deputy Mayor after Cr Simon Chate withdrew his nomination. September's meeting opened with a minute's silence for much-loved community member and Lennox Head restaurant owner Blake Rogers, who lost his life last week. Fresh from winning pre-selection as the Nationals candidate for the state seat of Ballina, the 'independent' first-term Ballina councillor Michelle Bailey has put forward a notice of motion asking Council to scrap its fixed 2030 net-zero target in favour of what she describes as a 'flexible sustainability strategy'.
Big meeting for Ballina Council this week
Ross Lane flood-resilience works begin ahead of nine-week closure
Ballina Council will be getting a new general manager
Ballina debates dog parks and net zero
Michelle Bailey targets net zero in Ballina
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