100,000 signatures sought to finish Northern Rivers Rail Trail

SUPPORTERS of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail are banding together for a new campaign to push for government funding to complete the 132-kilometre track from Casino to Murwillumbah.

Around 80 people – including families, members of local bike clubs and the not-for-profit charity Cycling Without Age, which offers free tri-shaw rides to elderly people and those with disabilities – took part in a photo shoot for the campaign at Burringbar Station last week.

Organisers are aiming to collect 100,000 signatures to present to the NSW and Australian governments to secure funding. Supporters are also being encouraged to share the campaign link as widely as possible.

Two sections of the trail, which provides a safe, off-road recreation route for walkers, runners, cyclists and mobility scooter users are already complete.

The Murwillumbah to Crabbes Creek stretch in the Tweed Shire has won numerous tourism awards, while the section between Lismore and Casino is also finished. But a 75-kilometre section through the Lismore and Byron shires still needs to be completed.

Byron and Lismore councils have jointly applied for funding through the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program to complete part of the trail, but have been awaiting a decision for 18 months.

In February, Byron Shire Council voted 6–2 to approve an “on-formation” rail trail in the Shire, including the contentious Mullumbimby to Byron Bay link, confirming that construction will take place directly over the existing rail tracks.

The decision replaces the previous “rail with trail” plan, allowing the project to progress through the shire using existing infrastructure.

 

Northern Rivers Rail Trail Supporters president Pat Grier, who has been campaigning for the trail for more than a decade, said the completed project would deliver significant economic, social, health and wellbeing benefits across the region.

The Tweed section of the trail has already exceeded expectations, boosting the Tweed economy by more than $3.7 million in its first year of operation, according to an independent Economic Impact Assessment Report by Muller Enterprise commissioned by Tweed Shire Council and the Northern Rivers Joint Organisation.

“The success of the Tweed section has been phenomenal, and now we have Byron Shire Council saying they’re 100 per cent behind the rail trail,” Grier said.

“If there’s ever been a time it’s needed it’s now, now we have lost Bluesfest and Splendour in the Grass.

“But this is not just Byron-centric, this is the sort of thing that will set the scene for the Northern Rivers region into the future. That’s our vision and I think we are heading in the right direction now.

“We need to think big and I think if we do it right, we will get this money and it will be fantastic.”

Grier said that once the Bangalow section is complete, Ballina Council plans to connect it to its cycle network through Newrybar and Tintenbar.

“They have around $10 million waiting to spend on that link,” he said.

To add your name to the campaign, which will officially launch later this month, visit northernriversrailtrail.com.au/SUPPORT