What the council is working on
Recent deliveries, what's underway now, and what's planned next — drawn from the council's own plans, budgets and project pages. We report what the council has publicly said it's doing; every item links to its source.
The council's stated direction
Ballina Shire Council's direction is set out in its Community Strategic Plan (refreshed for 2025–2035) and a Delivery Program 2026–2030 with an annual Operational Plan and budget, shaped by coastal growth, tourism, and the cost of maintaining infrastructure along an erosion-exposed coastline.
The council manages local roads, waste, water and sewer, libraries, parks, the Ballina Byron Gateway Airport and planning across a coastal Northern Rivers shire of towns and rural land. Its Delivery Program is the elected council's statement of commitment for its term.
The Delivery Program funds the council's annual capital works alongside a special rate variation approved by IPART in June 2026, which raises general rates by about 6% a year from 2026–27 to 2029–30 to address an asset-renewal shortfall.
Underway now
Special Rate Variation 2026–27 to 2029–30
Approved by IPART Jun 2026; applies from 2026–27IPART approved a permanent special rate variation raising Ballina's general rates by about 6% a year for four years (roughly 26.25% cumulative). The council said it is to address a shortfall in renewing core infrastructure — roads, stormwater, footpaths, open space, sports fields and community buildings.
Lennox Head coastal erosion & seawall management
Ongoing — Lennox Head Strategic Plan 2023–2043Lennox Head is a designated coastal-erosion hotspot in NSW. The council's coastal management and Lennox Head Strategic Plan set out works — including seawall upgrades and beach nourishment — to protect roads and foreshore facilities while keeping the town's coastal character.
Planned / committed
Community Strategic Plan 2025–2035
to 2035The council's top-level Community Strategic Plan, refreshed through community consultation in 2025, setting long-term goals for growth, environment, the economy and community wellbeing across the shire.
Source: Your Say Ballina — Community Strategic Plan 2025–2035