Handful of passionate and engaged residents have their say at online meeting

A handful of passionate and engaged residents discussed hot-button topics such as the “horrendous” housing situation and the issue of transport in regional areas.

LISMORE’S FUTURE: The future of Lismore was discussed at an online meeting to talk about the community’s response to the draft Lismore Regional City Action Plan. Photo: Nathan Edwards.

While plenty of people on social media have an opinion about what Lismore needs within the next 20 years, but only seven people attended an online community forum on the matter this week.

The forum was hosted by independent consultant April McCabe, in collaboration with Lismore City Council.

The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s planning officer Laura Oakley was also there to take note of what people wanted the key drivers for Lismore’s future to be.

Ms McCabe said up to 20 people could have been accommodated in the Zoom meeting.

Other participants included Planit Consulting’s senior planning consultant Josh Townsend, Lismore MP Janelle Saffin’s electorate officer Ronny Susanto (who said he was attending as a private citizen), Nimbin Environment Centre president Stewart James and Lismore resident and pro-train advocate Beth Shelley.

Ms McCabe explained the draft Lismore Regional City Action Plan provided a framework to manage and shape the growth of the Northern Rivers capital to make it one of the best places to live, work and play in Australia.

While at times participants became passionate during the discussion, all participants remained polite and respectful of others’ opinions.

As expected, a lack of affordable housing and transport links, including roads, were considered to be critical issues.

Ms Shelley said she felt the draft offered “wonderful ideas and great plans but we need to get to the nitty gritty to make a difference”.

“The housing situation is horrendous,” she said.

“The whole thing about attracting business and work, my focus is, we have a railway sitting there for years ... I would like to see it (railways brought back) under discussion,” she said.

Mr Townsend said he felt the draft plan “dovetailed nicely with the Lismore strategic planning statement”.

“Given Lismore has produced quite a good strategic plan I feel there’s some licence to be more site, block and key project specifics,” he said.

Mr James said he was concerned about cost-shifting to Lismore City Council by the State Government.

He cited some concerns about rail trail maintenance.

“In terms of equity, a lot of people in the region have social problems, addiction problems and not being able to connect with other communities, with transport, is an issue,” he said.

“Lismore is a regional city with a train line but Heritage Park has the only one which works.”

Mr Susanto said he felt the plan “was fairly positive, which is wonderful”.

But he said transparency was vital for the community to have faith in how projects will be delivered.

“This is all very good and positive, there’s potential for Lismore but the plan does not look at the challenges in Lismore such as roads and the housing crisis, this should be part of the plan,” he said.

“The plan is great but how will we achieve this it needs money where will this come from, this will be good for the community to know.”

The purpose of the draft Lismore RCAP

The plan establishes a vision, objectives and actions to guide the growth of Lismore city and

transform it into a more exciting regional city bursting with jobs, investment and a vibrant lifestyle.

The plan will set a delivery framework that:

• Articulates a clear 20-year vision for the city

• Ensures planning provisions to maximise employment opportunities and ensure future

housing needs are met to cater for a variety of lifestyle choices and needs

• Deliver a vibrant, innovative city by bringing laneways to life, opening up Wilsons River

waterfront to the public, create green corridors and integrated transport systems

• Creates new jobs by better connecting people to the city’s health, business and education

core

• Delivers infrastructure according to an agreed staging and sequencing of development

• Includes initiatives to enhance bushland habitat of many species of animal that call Lismore

home, including its large koala population.

The draft Lismore RCAP provides a framework to manage and shape the growth of the Northern Rivers capital to make it one of the best places to live, work and play in Australia.

To view the Draft Lismore Regional City Action Plan, make a formal submission and complete the online survey by Tuesday, June 15, go to: https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/LismoreRCAP