A fresh State and Federal funding bid to complete the Northern Rivers Rail Trail should be launched following the failure of a $42 million application earlier this year, according to a major new blueprint for the region’s economic future.

The next Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce Open Forum Board Meeting is scheduled to happen at the Byron Bay Services Club this evening.

Nearly $5,000 in unclaimed money is registered in state records for the Richmond/Tweed region, while more than $7,000 is registered for Coffs Harbour and the Mid North Coast combined.

Gentrification is the makeover process that a town undergoes when wealthier people move in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, and often displacing current inhabitants in the process.

There is still time to get tickets to tonight’s 2025 Uniquely Byron Business Awards, the local business chamber says.

From now through to the new year is the high point for many businesses in Mullumbimby. It is the time when they have the highest turnover and make the money they need to see them through the leaner times of the year.

Murwillumbah businesses have reported increased sales as part of a state government pilot program aimed at boosting the local business economy through new volunteer business levies via Community Improvement Districts (CIDs).

Lismore City Council has launched the ‘Local Legends’ campaign, inviting visitors to rediscover the region and show their support for the businesses that give Lismore its unique charm.  

The NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty David Harris has announced a new Aboriginal Business Taskforce to lead the growth of the state’s Aboriginal business sector at the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce in Redfern.

Across the world, as business people take control of the levers of government, or throw spanners into its wheels in the name of efficiency, some people are celebrating the idea of government functions being abandoned entirely, and left to the private sector.