‘A community without a heart’ – Cumbalum residents call for long-delayed shopping centre
Cumbalum residents say they have waited long enough. More than 20 years after plans for a local shopping centre were first promoted, the suburb is still without basic retail services, and frustration is growing.
Development consent for the first stage of the Ballina Heights shopping centre was finally issued on 10 October 2025.
But the prominent site on the corner of Ballina Heights and Power Drives (main photo) remains a weed-infested mess, with no signs of any action apart from a perimeter fence.
The approval covers 11 small retail tenancies, but the Cumbalum Residents Association (CRA) fears momentum may stall again as questions emerge about whether the developer is seeking to reduce the required infrastructure contributions.
CRA representative on Council’s A Ward Committee, Kay Oxley, said the absence of even a small group of shops affects daily life and community connection.
“It’s been more than 20 years. Even if people just need a bottle of milk, they’ve got to travel all the way into Ballina,” she said. “The population is now over 3,000 and still we don’t have shops. It also gives a community a meeting point — that’s what we’re missing.”
Kay Oxley
Ms Oxley said interest from prospective tenants has been strong and that residents have long believed the centre would be commercially viable.
“We’ve been told there was good interest in leasing opportunities.
They’ll fill the shops. It’s a bit like East Ballina — there are no vacancies there.”
A long assessment and multiple delays
Minutes from the most recent A Ward meeting show just how drawn out the assessment of the development application has been.
After being lodged in September 2023, the project went through repeated rounds of requests from Council and external consultants for updated plans, additional information and further traffic and stormwater modelling.
At one point, a ten-month gap occurred between information being submitted and Council returning with follow-up questions.
Council staff told the meeting the delays were the result of an exceptionally high volume of development applications, staff shortages and the need to bring in outside consultants to manage the workload.
When the initial consultant was no longer available, a second consultant had to be engaged and brought up to speed, prolonging the process.
After additional traffic analysis was submitted in mid-2025, Council commissioned a separate external review before finalising the assessment and issuing consent in October.
The site at the corner of Ballina Heights Drive and Power Drive – residents have to drive past it on their way into town, even to buy a bottle of milk
What comes next?
The fully planned commercial precinct includes a staged rollout of shops, a supermarket and bottle shop, and in later stages, a tavern and childcare centre.
Only the first stage has development approval; the supermarket and bottle shop form part of a separate application that has not yet been determined, and the tavern and childcare centre remain conceptual at this point.
The CRA worries that disputes over contributions could further delay the beginning of construction.
The approved first stage includes contributions of around $934,000 for roads, water, sewer and other infrastructure.
Council staff confirmed this figure is calculated under adopted contribution plans and noted they were unsure why the developer, the Catholic
Church’s property arm, was challenging the amount. Ballina News Daily has contacted the Catholic Diocese office in Lismore for comment.
A suburb waiting for its centre
As the suburb expands, Ms Oxley said the absence of a commercial heart becomes more noticeable. Banyan Hill’s growing population, she said, will push even more traffic past the future shopping centre site, highlighting the need for local services.
Beyond shops, the CRA is also advocating for new community facilities, including a proposed wetlands project and an enclosed dog park.
Both ideas would require external funding, but Ms Oxley said residents see them as key elements in building a complete and connected suburb.
“I just think Cumbalum is a suburb that needs to be completed. It feels like a community without a heart.”
