Lennox Head council land housing proposal backed for LEP change

Ballina Shire Council has backed the next planning step for a housing proposal on council land at Lennox Head, endorsing preparation of a planning proposal to amend Ballina Local Environmental Plan 2012.

The Finance and Facilities Committee on 13 April supported changes to allow the dwelling densities, numbers and types set out in Concepts 2 and 3 for the site. The committee recommendation was carried with councillors Erin Karsten and Kiri Dicker voting against, and councillors Simon Chate and Phil Meehan absent and not voting.

An amendment seeking a report on a legally binding mechanism to ensure a proportion of dwellings developed on the land are genuinely affordable for local key workers was lost. That amendment was supported by Cr Dicker and Cr Karsten, and opposed by Mayor Sharon Cadwallader and councillors Michelle Bailey, Simon Kinny, Damian Loone, Therese Crollick and Eva Ramsey.

For Lennox Head, the committee’s endorsement opens the way for a formal planning proposal that could change what housing types and densities are permitted on the council-owned land. The minutes do not record any final approval for development at this stage.

The housing item was one of several planning and budget matters advanced at the same meeting. The committee also approved public exhibition of draft 2026/27 fees and charges, the Strategic Asset Management Plan, Workforce Management Strategy, General Fund Long Term Financial Plan, and the 2026/27 to 2029/30 Delivery Program and Operational Plan, along with revised water financial planning and the Ballina Byron Gateway Airport long-term financial plan.

The committee also approved recurrent capital expenditure priorities for exhibition, with that program based on IPART approving Council’s special rate variation application for 2026/27 to 2029/30. If the special rate variation is not approved, a reduced works program is to be appended to the draft plans and reviewed again at the June 2026 ordinary meeting.

Other decisions included shifting $112,000 in planned 2027/28 footpath funding from South Street, Alstonville, to Tanamera Drive and Whipps Avenue, and confirming priorities and possible funding sources for a range of sealed and unsealed car park upgrades across Ballina, Lennox Head and Alstonville.

The next step for the Lennox Head land is preparation of the planning proposal endorsed by the committee. Broader draft fees, plans and budgets from the meeting are to go on public exhibition as part of council’s 2026/27 planning process.