Ballina Shire Council is refusing to give up on a 86-acre parcel beside Ballina Byron Gateway Airport it regards as critical to the region’s future economic growth.

Councillors have backed Mayor Sharon Cadwallader to take the fight directly to Premier Chris Minns and Planning Minister Paul Scully over the Council-owned former farmland north of Airport Boulevard.

The move came as Council put its new Economic Development and Visitor Economy Strategy on public exhibition and progressed plans to find productive new uses for two other major Council assets – Tuckombil Quarry and the former Family and Community Services office block in Tamar Street.

The airport decision was recorded as unanimous, but significantly four councillors were absent from the meeting – Greens Crs Kiri Dicker, Erin Karsten and Simon Chate, along with Cr Therese Crollick.

Their absence is particularly relevant because members of the Green-left voting bloc have previously cited environmental concerns as reason to oppose expanding the Southern Cross industrial precinct onto the former farmland.

The 35-hectare site has been earmarked for industrial expansion for years, but Council’s attempts to rezone it have run into opposition from environmental bureaucrats.

Assessments found vegetation across the site met criteria for endangered ecological communities, although Council reports have also acknowledged much of it is degraded and of low ecological quality. 

Previous negotiations with State authorities raised the possibility of allowing about nine hectares adjoining Airport Boulevard to be developed while protecting and rehabilitating the remainder. 

Flooding has presented another obstacle, with consultants previously warning that developing the industrial precinct could conflict with future flood mitigation required for expansion of the airport itself. 

But Cr Cadwallader made it clear at last week’s meeting that she was not prepared to abandon the site.

“I certainly haven’t given up on that,” she told councillors.

The Mayor pointed to the site’s history as farmland and described land close to the airport as critically important to Ballina’s future development.

Planning director Matthew Wood told the meeting that while the previous formal planning proposal had ceased, Council continued to keep a watching brief on biodiversity requirements and was planning further discussions with the NSW Environment Department.

Cr Cadwallader was even more emphatic later in the debate.

“We can’t just let that, I guess, go to the frogs,” she said.

Cr Phil Meehan pushed for the issue to be taken to the highest levels of the State Government, resulting in the motion being amended to formally support the Mayor making further representations and writing to both the Premier and Planning Minister.

That amended motion was carried unanimously by the councillors present. The resolution does not itself rezone or approve development of the land, but puts Council firmly back into the fight to have its future reconsidered. 

‘We already are’ an economic hub

The airport debate emerged during consideration of Council’s draft Economic Development and Visitor Economy Strategy 2026–2031.

Cr Simon Kinny moved that the strategy go on public exhibition, seconded by Deputy Mayor Damien Loone.

Cr Meehan strongly backed the strategy and pointed to Ballina’s recent retail expansion as evidence of its growing economic importance, arguing the town was becoming – or had already become – the retail centre of the Northern Rivers.

Mayor Cadwallader went further.

“We are becoming an economic hub in the region. I think we already are,” she said.

She argued Council should become increasingly proactive in attracting investment, identifying gaps in the local economy and effectively “rolling out the red carpet” for businesses capable of filling them.

That includes attracting more accommodation, particularly as Council renews its push for a major convention centre, while the airport remains central to Ballina’s broader economic ambitions.

Council’s new strategy brings economic development and the visitor economy together, with the aim of providing a long-term economic direction backed by a five-year action plan. 

Movie studio site remains in play

Council also used the meeting to keep two other potentially significant development opportunities alive.

After considering expressions of interest behind closed doors, councillors decided none of the proposals for the former Tuckombil Quarry near Alstonville contained enough detail, including financial information, to be accepted.

However, General Manager Paul Hickey has been authorised to continue discussions about a long-term lease with parties before bringing any preferred proposal back to Council.

The quarry has previously been proposed as the home of a major regional film and creative-industry hub, meaning the much-discussed movie studio concept could remain among its future possibilities.

Council also rejected expressions of interest its office building at 89–91 Tamar Street because they failed to meet financial benchmarks.

Instead, it will investigate dividing the large building into smaller tenancies and seek interest from accommodation providers. 

There was also a result from another commercial-property EOI, with White Star Aviation selected for a hangar site at Ballina Byron Gateway Airport. 

The Tuckombil quarry site earmarked for movie studios