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
Kyogle's direction is set out in the Community Strategic Plan 2025–2035, adopted unanimously on 11 August 2025 after nine community meetings and drop-in sessions, and delivered through the Delivery Program 2026/2030 and Operational Plan 2026/2027 adopted on 9 June 2026. The council frames its job as balancing environment, lifestyle and opportunity, with a strong emphasis on getting the basics right — roads, bridges, water, reliable communications and community facilities.
The council manages local roads and bridges, water supply and sewerage, waste, parks, libraries and planning across a 3,584 km² rural LGA of about 9,600 people, where a quarter of the land area is State Forest or National Park. Its Integrated Planning and Reporting suite — Community Strategic Plan, Delivery Program, annual Operational Plan, Asset Management Strategy and Long Term Financial Plan — is the elected council's statement of what it intends to do and fund.
The 2026/27 budget of $64.6 million includes almost $10 million for roads and bridges (with $2 million for the Clarence Way this year and $3 million in forward estimates), $5 million over two years to fast-track replacement of ageing cast-iron watermains behind discoloured-water complaints, $7 million this year and $17 million in forward estimates for a new Kyogle sewerage treatment plant, $13.5 million in forward estimates for the Tabulam, Mallanganee and Wiangaree sewerage schemes, $4 million in forward estimates for village main street upgrades, and $1.793 million for landfill improvements and quarry rehabilitation. In June 2026 the council also launched an advocacy campaign to State and Federal governments for community-identified priorities including sealing 15km of unsealed roads a year focused on school bus routes, replacing causeways with bridges or culverts, and finishing the Clarence Way upgrade.
Underway now
Clarence Way upgrade, Sandilands to Urbenville
Existing $47.2M project; a further 3.4km funded, works to start early 2027Council is progressively upgrading the Clarence Way between Sandilands and Urbenville — widening the pavement to a consistent 7m sprayed seal, replacing culverts, improving drainage, ride quality, line marking and signage. In March 2026 council secured an additional $5 million from the Australian Government's Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program and added $1.25 million of its own to upgrade another 3.4km between Bonalbo and Urbenville (a 2.4km section at Bean Creek and a 1km section south of the Yabbra Scrub). Council says it is seeking further funding to complete the full length of the road, which it describes as a potential alternate freight route connecting Grafton to Queensland.
Source: Kyogle Council — media release: Major funding boost for Clarence Way
Flood and landslip restoration on the local road network
2022 flood damage; further damage from Cyclone Alfred in 2025Four major landslips on Lions Road occurred during the 2022 flood event, which also damaged the road and a number of culverts; Cyclone Alfred created a new landslip in 2025 and destabilised the existing ones, and the road has remained closed for safety reasons. Council's works update of 19 August 2026 reports that the Lions Road 2022 flood repairs are now complete, with the 2025 Cyclone Alfred slip repairs still to be funded. Other flood-damage work in progress across the LGA includes Gradys Creek Road (50% sealed, plus a separate landslip), daily monitoring of the Iron Pot Creek Road landslip, Horseshoe Creek Road, Baileys Bridge Road, a landslip near the Kyogle Bowling Club on the Richmond River, and Williams Road (hoped to be complete by mid-October 2026).
Planned / committed
Water and sewerage renewal — watermains, and a new Kyogle treatment plant
From 2026/27; sewerage treatment plant across forward estimatesThe 2026/27 budget allocates $5 million over two years to fast-track council's watermains replacement program, progressively replacing problematic (mostly old cast iron) mains behind ongoing discoloured-water issues. New watermains have already been installed in Roxy Lane and Gardener Lane, with Bundock Lane and Bundock Street, Morphett Street, Cambell Road North and Fairy Street next, and another 32 sites scheduled after that. The budget also sets aside $7 million in 2026/27 and $17 million in forward estimates for a new Kyogle sewerage treatment plant, plus $13.5 million in forward estimates for the Tabulam, Mallanganee and Wiangaree sewerage schemes.
Source: Kyogle Council — media release: Budget delivers big investment in the future
Recently delivered
$80 million Bridge Replacement Program — 110 bridges in five years
2021 to August 2026Council replaced 110 bridges across the Kyogle LGA over five years, largely replacing ageing timber structures with concrete bridges and culverts, through a funding partnership with the NSW and Australian governments (including a $40.419 million Fixing Country Bridges grant, a $1.535 million Federal Bridge Renewal Program contribution and an $8.86 million council contribution towards the original 95-bridge package). The final bridge, the $3.3 million Montgomerys Bridge on Iron Pot Creek Road, was expected to open to traffic on 28 August 2026, restoring direct access for Ghinni Ghi and Iron Pot Creek residents who had faced a 16-kilometre detour each way since the old bridge closed for safety reasons in November 2020.
Source: Kyogle Council — Montgomerys Bridge nears completion