Delivery Program and Operational Plan 2024/25

Council adopted a Road Asset Management Plan in 2021 to progressively seal unsealed rural roads. The process to adopt the plan included developing assessment criteria and these were applied to the rural roads to determine our highest priorities. This plan was a 10 year strategy based on available funding at the time. Newrybar Street was not ranked with a high enough priority to be included in the current plan, largely based on traffic counts, and construction costs, as compared to other rural unsealed roads. 

As well as the works in the plan, Council has received State and Federal Government grant funding for the sealing of unsealed roads. This means we have been able to accelerate the program compared to the original plan. During the four years since Council implemented the plan we have collected further cost and technical data.  

It is now timely to review this data and current community feedback on the condition of our rural roads. During 2024/25 we propose to complete a review of the plan. We expect one of the outcomes of this review will be the preparation of a new 10 year plan. Newrybar Street will be considered, along with the many other unsealed rural roads, as part of this process. 

For further updates on this review contact our Civil Services Director, Mr John Truman.

Council has identified the need to upgrade the Pat Morton Precinct, along with finalising the connections between the shared paths that join the northern and southern end of the car park. In 2021 Council adopted a preferred concept plan for joining the pathways and improving the car park, being option 1 of a series of concept plans presented to Council, (see the designs presented to the 23 Sept 2021 Council Ordinary meeting here) and read the 23 Sept 2021 Council report and minutes here.  Council also revisited this concept plan at the 24 November 2022 Ordinary meeting, where a preferred concrete colour was confirmed (Rock Salt) - view 24 Nov 2022 agenda here and minutes here.

The estimated cost of implementing this upgrade is approximately $1m and to date Council has not been able to allocate funding to undertake these works. There is currently no funding included in the 10-year life of the Long Term Financial Plan to undertake these works. The implementation of the concept plan remains a high priority and this project, and all the other projects Council would like to see implemented, are reviewed by the elected Council each year in preparing the Delivery Program and Operational Plan. 

The current priority in respect to car park improvements is the implementation of the Sharpes Beach Master Plan, which has an estimated cost of $1.3m. Council is currently finalising a review of that master plan before undertaking those works which are now planned for 2024/25.

Until the Pat Morton Precinct Concept Plan is funded, Council will continue to undertake ad hoc heavy patching of the car park, which we agree, is not the preferred solution. Funding constraints mean that Council must steadily work through priorities, as determined each year by the elected Council.

If you wish to see the Pat Morton Precinct Concept Plan brought forward as a priority, please make a submission to the draft Delivery Program and Operational Plan, via the feedback form on this page. 

The current funding allocation reflects the planned level of service for a community level facility at Chickiba Park.

During 2017 significant works were undertaken to improve drainage at Chickiba Park by lowering the groundwater within the adjacent wetland. More recently, works to provide new athletics infrastructure have been completed. This work included the provision of a marked track for year-round use, as well as a long jump pit and throwing cages built to the relevant standards.

The canteen and amenities building at the park is licensed to the Ballina Little Athletics (BLA) for use. Funds from Council’s Capital Assistance Program for Sports Groups have been allocated to the Ballina Little Athletics (BLA) for canteen improvements.

The funding for Chickiba Park in the draft 24/25 DPOP is intended for continued improvement works to the field surface. The adjustment in funds allocated reflects a better understanding of the costs for the project and takes into account the need to provide the best overall balance among all sporting facilities and projects across the shire.

If you would like to see additional improvements included, please make a submission to the draft Delivery Program and Operational Plan by completing the feedback form on this page.

Construction of the bridge duplication and Tamarind Drive Lane duplication project are scheduled to start late 2024 to 2025. The design maintains the same level of pedestrian connectivity that is currently available. 

If you would like to see additional improvements included in the current project, please make a submission to the draft Delivery Program and Operational Plan.

• Click here for information on the Tamarind Drive Lane duplication project
• Click here for further information on the Bridge Duplications including Evacuation Routes project

Thanks for your suggestion. The current program does not include a footpath on Ferngrove Drive.  We retain a list of requested footpath works for consideration when we review or update the Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan, being the strategic document that guides our planning priorities for pedestrian facility improvements across the Shire.

The current funding allocation reflects the planned level of service for a community level facility at Chickiba Park.

During 2017 significant works were undertaken to improve drainage at Chickiba Park by lowering the groundwater within the adjacent wetland. More recently, works to provide new athletics infrastructure have been completed. This work included the provision of a marked track for year-round use, as well as a long jump pit and throwing cages built to the relevant standards. 

The funding for Chickiba Park in the draft 24/25 DPOP is intended for continued improvement works to the field surface. The funds allocated reflects a better understanding of the costs for the project and takes into account the need to provide the best overall balance among all sporting facilities and projects across the shire. 

The current funding allocation reflects the planned level of service for a community level facility at Chickiba Park.

During 2017 significant works were undertaken to improve drainage at Chickiba Park by lowering the groundwater within the adjacent wetland. More recently, works to provide new athletics infrastructure have been completed. This work included the provision of a marked track for year-round use, as well as a long jump pit and throwing cages built to the relevant standards. 

The canteen and amenities building at the park is licensed to the Ballina Little Athletics (BLA) for use. Funds from Council’s Capital Assistance Program for Sports Groups have been allocated to the Ballina Little Athletics (BLA) for canteen improvements.

The funding for Chickiba Park in the draft 24/25 DPOP is intended for continued improvement works to the field surface. The adjustment in funds allocated reflects a better understanding of the costs for the project and takes into account the need to provide the best overall balance among all sporting facilities and projects across the shire.

Action 34 in Council’s adopted Lennox Head Strategic Plan outlines a proposal for Council to continue discussions with the owner of land that adjoins Byron Bay Road and Ross Lane for potential rezoning to employment/industrial purposes. The creation of an industrial precinct in this locality has been planned for a number for years, however it is very dependent on the involvement of the landowner. For further information please contact Council’s Strategic Planning Section. To view the Lennox Head Strategic Plan please visit Lennox Head Strategic Plan | Your Say Ballina

Thank you for your question. Council has $734,000 allocated for the construction of the Ballina Pump Track in 2024/25, to be located on a southwestern portion of the Kingsford Smith Reserve, not far from the netball courts.

In planning for construction of this facility,  which commenced in 2023/24, based on the overall size of the track, we needed to locate part the track on to an area of Kingsford Smith Reserve, that is actually not managed by Council, and falls under the control of Reflection Holiday Parks (i.e. an area to the east of the Ballina Central Reflection Holiday Park, is a crown reserve identified for use as a caravan park that is currently open space.) 

The entire Kingsford Smith Reserve is a crown reserve, not owned by Council, with Council responsible for management of most of the reserve, and Reflections Holiday Park controlling a smaller section, including the Holiday Park.

We now have the approvals sorted for the location of the track on that part of the reserve, and currently we are in the process of advising neighbouring property owners of this updated location.

Once the consultation process is completed, and subject to no adverse community reaction, we plan to call tenders for the construction of the Pump Track.

It is difficult to put a precise time on the delivery of this project, as it will be dependent on the feedback from the community consultation and then there is typically a three-month time frame for Council to call tenders, assess those tenders and have the elected Council make a decision on the preferred contractor.

Importantly, this remains a high priority project, which Council is aiming to deliver as soon as possible. For more information please contact our Open Spaces Section on 1300 864 444. 

Thank you for your feedback regarding the size of bins provided through our kerbside collection service. We do apologise for your initial customer service experience as it is inconsistent with the high standard we have committed to providing our community.

We do offer a smaller bin size of 140L and we’re happy to reduce your bin size if you wish. This can be done by calling our resource recovery customer service team between 8am and 4pm on 02 6686 1287.

The reasoning behind the 240L standard size bin for our 3-bin collection service is that it is designed to provide sufficient volume of waste, recycling and organics capacity for the average Ballina household. We acknowledge some households will produce more waste, and some less waste, however this bin size is considered appropriate for the average household to facilitate a fortnightly waste and recycling and weekly organics 3-bin collection service frequency.

We are continually looking to improve our waste management and resource recovery policies and agree with you in the importance of encouraging and supporting our community in reducing waste to landfill. We conduct regular audits of the composition of our residential bins to assess how the system is performing and identify areas where we need to target community education campaigns to assist the Ballina community in continually improving our waste management and resource recovery practices. Comparing our most recent 2020 and 2022 audit results, the generation of all waste streams decreased and resource recovery increased, illustrating that our current policies are having a positive impact.

We have considered providing discounted rates for smaller sized bins however evidence from other Councils introducing this policy retrospectively has shown residents choosing a smaller waste bin size for a reduced rate tend to contaminate their recycling and organics bins with landfill items. As we increase the circularity of our economy and find more viable markets to recycle various products, we continually aim for our proportion of waste to landfill to continue to decrease and resource recovery to increase. For now, we follow the best practice for bin size and collection frequency, and offer smaller bin sizes for those that would like them as well as a variety of education programs for the community to help them improve their waste practices.

If you would like to discuss further please give Justine Rowe, our Resource Recovery Education Officer, a call on 6681 0568.