Ballina and Tweed councils could each secure up to $1 million for local infrastructure after cutting their average development application assessment times by nearly two months.

The Ballina Salvage Shed is once again running its Recycled Art Competition, offering a fun and inclusive way for community members to redesign and repurpose materials that may otherwise be sent to landfill or left hidden in a shed.

Want to connect with your local community groups? Ballina Council is inviting everyone to come along to the Ballina Shire Community Connections Expo on Saturday 29 August 2026, from 9am to 12pm at the Lennox Head Cultural Centre.

Community members rolled up their sleeves last week for the 21st Lennox Head Community Tree Planting Day, which helped to continue more than two decades of restoration work on this iconic coastal landscape.

With the likelihood that the Wardell Recreation Grounds will be permanently used for ‘essential housing’, Ballina Council resolved last week to seek assurances from the NSW government that it would not occur ‘until a compensating area of open space is delivered to the community’.

Ballina mayor calls for open space to offset ‘essential housing’ plans on Wardell rec grounds

Byron Shire Council staff say they have banned the use of balloons and other single-use decorations in all Council buildings, parks and outdoor areas from June 1.

Lennox local and sitting councillor Kiri Dicker is running for Mayor of Ballina Shire Council in the upcoming council election on September 14 and is putting affordable housing for key workers as front and centre of her campaign.

Ballina Council have removed any doubt that the development of housing on land it owns in Wollongbar is for the benefit of ‘key workers’.

What can be done to protect and improve the health of the Richmond River estuary?