At today's final Lismore City Council meeting for the year, the long-awaited Property Portfolio Strategy (PPS) leads the agenda items.

Staff have been developing the PPS since councillors voted on a resolution in February 2025 to prepare the document. Council wants to understand which properties it owns, so it can determine how the portfolio of land will be managed to support service delivery, enable community outcomes and contribute to long-term financial sustainability.

It was discovered that Lismore Council owns 390 sites, which include:

• 23 buildings generating $131,000 in income
• 12 cemetery sites, 8 operating, with rental in income of $30,000
• 2 waste sites
• 28 water infrastructure sites
• 2 caravan park sites generating $25,000 in income
• 13 car parks
• 2 depots
• 11 Emergency Services sites, SES and RFS
• 3 houses generating $18,000 in income
• 139 sites for Parks, Sports and Open Spaces
• 14 other sites generating $53,000 in income
• 34 surplus road corridors
• 92 vacant sites generating $170,000 in income

Councillors will vote on whether to adopt the Portfolio Property Strategy, which will be operationalised through four core initiatives:

• Value Creation Project to identify value-generating opportunities across the portfolio

• Decision-Making Framework for a structured and transparent approach to decisions

• Property Reserve Fund to support the long-term financial sustainability of the Council

• The Property Strategy Implementation Plan turns the Strategy into coordinated, practical actions

Lismore LGA cat owners should take note of today's council meeting agenda. Cr Dalton Earls has asked a question about Lismore's inclusion in the NSW Government's Keeping Cats Safe at Home program. The $6 million program has 30 participating NSW councils as it moved into Phase 2, which aims to reduce the negative impacts associated with domestic cats.

Lismore Council has been speaking to the RSPCA to be part of a statewide rollout of the program for Phase 3.

Also on today's agenda is a Development Application (DA) to establish a Farm Experience Premise (periodic use as a campground) and installation of a new onsite sewage management system at 15 Cosy Camp Road Bexhill, a 180m concrete shared path along Standing Street at The Channon and an endorsement of a MOU (memorandum of understanding) between Council and NORPA reinforcing the importance of performing arts in Lismore's long-term recovery. 

The Lismore Council meeting starts at 10am, with public access at 9am.