Plans for a proposed TAFE connected learning centre in Byron Bay have been released for public comment

The council has already indicated its support for the proposed $6.13 million centre, which would be built on council-owned, previously rehabilitated land.

Plans for a proposed $6.13 million TAFE connected learning centre in Byron Bay have been made public.

TAFE NSW lodged a development application for the establishment of the proposed centre with Byron Shire Council in May.

The boutique educational facility, which is not a full campus but would bring TAFE offerings to the Byron Shire for the first time, has been proposed for a corner of the council-owned land at Lot 12 on Bayshore Drive in the Byron Arts and Industry Estate.

Plans for a proposed TAFE NSW connected learning centre at Lot 12 Bayshore Drive in Byron Bay have been released on public exhibition.

The plans, which are on public exhibition until June 23, indicate the area to be leased by TAFE NSW sits in the southwestern corner of one of three lots to be created under a subdivision plan.

The council recently voted in support of plans to subdivide Lot 12 into three blocks; one will be sold to Creative Capital, another will house the proposed TAFE and various council buildings and a third, on the west of the broader site, will be retained for environmental purposes.

Although the council has not yet made a decision on the TAFE development application, it has long indicated support for the organisation to have a base on the site and Byron-based MLC Ben Franklin has said construction was expected to begin this year.

The planned location of a proposed TAFE connected learning centre at Lot 12 Bayshore Drive in Byron Bay.

TAFE NSW regional general manager Susie George has previously said along with a permanent building, there would also be space for “mobile training units” to be brought in for specialised classes when needed.

A statement of environmental effects, commissioned by TAFE, said “no significant environmental impacts, social or economic” has been identified or were “likely to arise from the development”.

“Rather, the development will provide additional education facilities to the Byron and North Coast area,” the document said.

Plans for a proposed TAFE NSW connected learning centre at Lot 12 Bayshore Drive in Byron Bay have been released on public exhibition.

Another document accompanying the DA said while TAFE would not seek to receive “any formal certification”, Green Star design benchmarks would be referenced in the design of the centre.

The wallum froglet has been recorded “on multiple occasions” on the subject property while the wallum sedge frog has not been recorded there, according to an acid frog investigation document also on exhibition with the DA.

Plans for a proposed TAFE NSW connected learning centre at Lot 12 Bayshore Drive in Byron Bay have been released on public exhibition.

That investigation found pH levels on the site meant it was “poor/unsuitable habitat” for those species, although the wallum froglet has been “known to occur in disturbed areas”

“Any consideration of development of the site should take into account the known presence of Wallum Froglets in the western portion of the site and the possibility that they may occur in the drainage system along the southwestern boundary,” the report, prepared for the applicant, said.