There was a great deal covered during yesterday's Lismore City Council October meeting. Too much for one news story, so the Lismore App will be writing and publishing a number of stories in the coming days to give you more detail and perspective on each item.

In a unanimous vote, councillors voted to approve the 58-bed temporary accommodation DA on McKenzie Street, Lismore, just east of the Lismore Square.

It was revealed that there were a number of community concerns from nearby residents and preschools; however, councillors were convinced that with the correct conditions in place, the community would see that their concerns would be allayed.

Cr Gordon and Mayor Krieg visited a similar operation by Social Futures in Tweed Heads, both coming out impressed and confident that it would also work in Lismore.

A staff member regaled a story from a staff member who was approached three months after opening the new facility, asking, When will it open?

(The old Fromelles Manor site on McKenzie Street in July 2025)

"And I think if Mackenzie Street can resemble or is run in exactly the same way, and I think it's proposed, that's exactly what's going to happen, then you will not know that this establishment is running." Cr Gordon said.

"This is a major step forward in housing. People that significantly need to be housed, but also looking after them. You can't just put people in a house or in a flat and say you're on your own. It doesn't work. It does not work. Councilor Rob will be able to tell you that. We've seen it a thousand times, but if you assist people, I genuinely believe that people want the best for them. They really do, but sometimes they just struggle with managing that ideal.

"If you put them in an environment where they are safe, they are separated from others, and you give them the opportunity to learn and perhaps get new skills, they become a far better person for it. And I think Lismore will be recognised for, I guess, the significant contribution we will make into making other people's lives far more manageable, and perhaps have some greater citizens come out of this operation."

Mayor Krieg told a story about a 78-year-old couple who had their rent doubled by a new landlord after 35 years of living in that property. The result was they had to move out because they couldn't afford the rent. The new Tweed Heads Social Futures facility took them in for a week and found them a new affordable place to live permanently.

"This service is a wrap-around to aid people to find long-term accommodation under their own means. We don't know where each of us, or any of us, will be in three months, six months time. And I can't help but think this couple that was mentioned, the grandparents, their parents, they're the same age as my parents. They've worked hard their whole life, and they found themselves in this predicament, and a service like this was able to take them in and provide the support and the contacts to find them future, long-term accommodation.

"I'm not discounting for one second the community concerns in and around that this is complex. It's something that, as councillors, I'm sure we all struggle with, but we've got to think of our most vulnerable. They could be our parents, they could be our grandparents, they could be our neighbours. We don't know. And for that, I'm aware of the work that Social Futures does in our whole region, and they do great work. They do the work that no one puts their hand up to do."

Cr Knight-Smith mentioned that council staff conditions that raised the fence height, thus better screening for the neighbours, and the 24 hour security.

"In Tweed, so far, there have been 60 people moved into long-term housing. What an amazing outcome. Some into social and some private, and some renewed, reunited with their families. There's no denying that this is something that our community will benefit from, and it is part of the mix of housing that we need to provide for our community."

Cr Hall mentioned that 74 women were killed in Australia last year as a result of domestic violence.

"These rooms, apartments, facilities, are also going to house those people, and that's the angle I'm taking on it. We're protecting the youth of today, we're protecting the mums who don't have anywhere to go."

As mentioned at the watery, this was a unanimous vote.

Another unanimous vote was related to the Dunoon & District Sports & Recreation Club.

The Sports & Rec Club wants to buy 100m2 from Lismore Council after its building has encroached onto council land. The question was asked by Cr Battista as to why it has been allowed to encroach across its boundary, but the question did not bring an answer.

(The Dunoon Sports & Recreation Club is under financial strain)

The motion was for Council to enter into a lease agreement with the club to a level to be negotiated by the GM to cover council costs and for the GM to negotiate a sale at a future date when the club is in a financial position to buy the land.

The last point was added because the Dunoon Sports & Rec Club is in a very weak position, financially, which each councillor was aware of after reading the report.

It was acknowledged that the club, like others in our villages, is more like a community centre rather than just a place to get a drink, and they do not have poker machines.

"It's a place where, as I said, in times of emergency, people are offered shelter, so basically an evacuation centre for that community. The Dunnon Club deck provides shelter if they're watching their children play soccer," said Cr Dalton-Earls.

Cr Dalton-Earls wanted to put a $1 cost on purchasing the land, plus ask the club to fund the legal fees and stamp duty, estimated to be between $6,000 and $10,000. Cr Battista said the club should pay more than that as they are the ones who have encroached onto council land, even if it was a mistake when the building was constructed (which was not disclosed). The estimated land cost from council staff was $10,357.

As stated above, there is ongoing concern for the future of the Dunoon Sport & Rec Club, so any amount is too much.

Cr Battista said, "Once a club is in very dire straits, it takes a big effort from the community itself to turn it around. I don't believe the club will survive, to be honest, because once you're down this slippery slope. We heard they haven't got a chef, so what are they going to do? I don't think it's going to be a viable club unless there's a change in management and a change in organisational governance. That's up to the community to do that. They really need to step up and really do something about it."

Cr Gordon said, I just don't feel as though we're in the business of winding up sports clubs or community facilities. We're here to help them and to manage them and to see their prosperity or to do the very least that we can to ensure their success."

The vote was unanimous to wait until the Dunoon Spot & Rec Club is in a stronger financial position, which may take quite a few years.

The Planning Proposal to apply additional uses on land in South Lismore alongside the Rail Trail was another unanimous vote. This could see new retail businesses, an information facility, or community facility in South Lismore.

The rest of the meeting did not progress very smoothly. There will be more on trains in Lismore, illegal tobacco and vapes, crime and community safety and the Richmond River Historical Society.