Lismore City Council has initiated a plan to assess Rural Land use in the LGA. They are asking for feedback from the community to understand its needs and how we see our region. 

A spokesperson for Lismore City Council said, “The Rural Land Use Discussion Paper is the first step in developing a Rural Land Use Strategy, which will provide direction on how Council manages our rural areas into the future. 

“The Discussion Paper explains the strength, challenges, opportunities and threats facing our rural lands, and provides some options Council could investigate to strengthen how our rural lands function.”

Agriculture is listed as a strength in the paper and contains a snapshot of various industries, such as macadamias, nurseries and sugar cane. Other strengths covered are our climate and education, our biodiversity, including wildlife.

Some of the challenges nominated include land use discrepancies, the need for housing, the floodplain and road infrastructure.

Opportunities include rice, hemp, and agritourism, as well as sustainable and nature-based solutions.

Threats outlined include climate change, an ageing workforce and biosecurity, amongst others.

“This work is important because our rural lands make up more than 85% of the Lismore local government area and are host to many uses, including productive agriculture, forestry, natural resource extraction, environmental conservation, housing and tourism. While this presents numerous opportunities, without careful management there is also potential for conflict.”

(Some facts as they are laid out in the discussion paper)

Council is looking to get a clear picture of what the community expectations are. The information the community provides will go into a draft strategy that Council will consider for progression.

“There are several actions that Council could take to improve how our rural lands function, including changes to planning controls, development of educational resources, additional staff to assist rural landowners, and a greater focus on advocacy and partnerships. 

“However, it’s important to note that Council has not made any decisions on what changes should be pursued. The point of the Discussion Paper is to explain the issues, hear from the community, then respond through the development of a draft Strategy. No options will be progressed until a final Strategy is adopted by Council.”

The process is not just open to rural landowners and workers. Everyone has a right to provide input, the factors undergoing consideration will affect people in the city in some part of their lives. 

“At this stage, Council wants to understand what our community values about our rural lands, what is working well, and what could be improved. While Council is particularly interested to hear from those who live and/or work on rural land, including our villages, we are also interested in hearing from any Lismore resident with ideas about rural land use. 

“Even if someone doesn’t live on rural land, how these lands function can have wider impacts on issues like housing availability, tourism opportunities, scenic amenity and environmental management.”

There are a lot of interesting considerations for Lismore laid out in the paper. Identifying land without dwelling entitlements and assessing them for development is one proposal, land use and reviewing minimum lot sizes as well as multiple occupancy locations and the potential for village expansion are just a few of the ideas up for consideration.

You can find the Discussion Paper on the council's website. A hard copy is available at the Lismore and Goonellabah libraries. You can provide feedback via a guided survey or submission on the same webpage.

You can also contact the team handling the discussion paper by phone (02 6625 0500) or email ([email protected]).