New plan for Wollongbar site
The old drive-in theatre site at Wollongbar could be the location for new facilities including a hall, pre-school, netball courts, library, day-care facilities and a district park.
Ballina Shire Council at its December meeting adopted a new master plan for the site to cater for an estimated population growth of 4500.
Under the preferred Option 3, the council will retain 1.1ha of the 4.6ha site as a commercial entity for rezoning and housing development.
Under the previous strategy, the site would be the location for two football fields overlaying a cricket oval, and six netball courts.
Cr David Wright told the council meeting that the people of Wollongbar had told the council that they don’t want playing fields on the site.
The council plans to locate playing fields on the Sneaths Road TAFE site as an interim measure.
Under the plan, the site would have:
- Netball courts (1ha).
- A district park (2ha)>x ,
- Community buildings (.5ha)
- Rezoning/housing 1.1ha.
Cr Keith Johnson told the council meeting that the plan was a good one, but the Wollongbar Progress Association’s Marilyn Perkins had reservations, saying Wollongbar needs a family space where people can go for a picnic or barbecue.
She also doubted whether the council plan would come to fruition.
Cr Alan Rich, of Lennox Head,warned the council that a wrong decision on the site could have serious consequences. He cited Lennox Head as an example where he says the demand for facilities has been under-estimated.
