Clunes Masterplan
As part of its commitments in the Lismore Growth and Realignment Strategy (2022), Lismore City Council is developing a masterplan for Clunes.
Council has engaged Ethos Urban with Living Lab Northern Rivers and Barker Ryan Stewart to create this masterplan, which will focus on a deep engagement with the community that looks to ensure the existing character and lifestyle of Clunes are preserved as much as possible, negative impacts on biodiversity and agricultural lands are minimised, infrastructure constraints are resolved and the potential benefits of growth are explored.
How you can get involved
Attend one of our public drop in sessions
Phase 1: First public drop-in session (November 2024)
The first community engagement sessions and online activities on YourSay have now concluded. We are excited to share the results of this initial engagement phase with the community. Two reports are now available on Council’s Your Say page:
Short Summary Report: A concise overview of the key insights and themes from the community feedback.
Detailed Report: A comprehensive analysis of all feedback, including summaries of survey responses, ideas board contributions and insights from drop-in sessions.
Phase 2: Second public drop-in session (December 2024)
The second in person drop-in session is now complete. Online engagements are available on Lismore City Council’s Your Say page until 18 December 2024.
Phase 3: Exhibition of Draft Masterplan (March to April 2025)
Attend the exhibition of the Draft plan and provide any final feedback. Further details to come.
Participate online
Online engagement activities will be available during each phase on Lismore City Council’s Your Say page.
Sign up to stay up to date
Get the latest news on the Clunes Masterplan community consultation via email by signing up here.
Process
The masterplanning process will run from October 2024 to mid 2025.
From October 2024 to early 2025, Living Lab Northern Rivers will lead an in-depth community consultation process that prioritises listening to the Clunes community.
The community engagement process will include establishing a Community Reference Group (see below) and a series of drop in sessions that will take place in Clunes.
The consultant team will then use the community values, aspirations and vision identified in the community engagement process, as well as historical, technical and best practice information, to create scenarios for a future Clunes.
These future scenarios will be publicly exhibited for review and feedback by the Clunes community.
Following this, the preferred masterplan will be presented for endorsement by the Community Reference Group and Council. This will only happen after any amendments that are a result of feedback from the community at both the community drop-in sessions and the exhibition of the draft masterplan.
See Frequently Asked Questions below for more information.
Community Reference Group
The Expression of Interest (EOI) process for the Community Reference Group has been completed and the project team is now ready to collaborate with a group of 10 residents. This group represents a diverse cross-section of the Clunes community.
The selection of the group was carried out with careful consideration based on Selection Criteria, ensuring balanced representation.
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We had a strong number of 43 submissions for the 10-person panel, and have worked with Lismore City Council and our team to select the group members who have now been confirmed. The members were selected with consideration of the following criteria:
Diversity across age,
Balanced representation of gender,
A mix of long term and newer residents,
Representation from business owners and/or staff,
Honouring those with an active participation in established community organisations such as:
Clunes Old School Hall,
Clunes Clues,
Clunes Coronation Hall,
Clunes Parents and Citizens Association,
Clunes Rural Fire Brigade.
Diversity of ideas or aspirations expressed in the application form including:
Children and young families,
Housing,
Agriculture,
Biodiversity/Environment.
Ability to represent community values and interests,
Widjabal Wia-bal leaders/representatives (Bundjalung Nation).
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The Community Reference Group will:
Help shape engagement activities, such as workshops and drop-in sessions, to make them accessible and inclusive for all.
Collaborate with the project team to ensure that community ideas and concerns are reflected in the Master Plan by providing draft insights to be tested with the wider community.
Assist in synthesising community feedback and helping to guide the development of the Master Plan.
Have the opportunity to endorse the draft Master Plan and draft recommendations to Council after exhibition of the draft Master Plan to the public and any amendments as a result of feedback from the community at both the community drop-in sessions and exhibition stage.
More information
The development of a Clunes Masterplan is an action in the Lismore City Council Grown & Realignment Strategy (2022).
More information can be found in section 2.6.2 of this strategy (p. 16).
Frequently asked questions
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A master plan is a document that creates a long-term plan and place-based vision for the future. It is not a detailed development application for future development. Rather it sets the parameters or the framework for how future development will be considered.
The outcomes of the master plan process will:
identify a vision and a set of guiding principles for the long-term development of Clunes,
identify challenges and opportunities,
provide detailed mapping such as a structure plan to visually identify and locate any future works and preferred land uses,
provide a detailed action plan that links to the strategic principles and identifies work that needs to be done to facilitate the delivery of the master plan, including resource requirements.
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The development of Clunes Masterplan is an action in the Lismore City Council’s Growth & Realignment Strategy (2022). The Clunes Community has been patiently waiting for a community specific plan since the publication of this strategy in 2022.
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1. Community Vision and Engagement: The project will foster an inclusive and participatory process that engages residents and other stakeholders to collectively define a vision for Clune’s future. The masterplan will reflect the aspirations, concerns and identity of the community and identify Clunes’ place within the Northern Rivers region.
2. Sustainable Development: Integrate sustainable development principles into the masterplan, encompassing environmental, social and economic considerations. The plan will promote practices that minimise environmental impact, enhance biodiversity and enhance resilience to climate change.
3. Infrastructure: Future requirements for transport, water, wastewater, electricity and community infrastructure such as open space and sporting facilities are to be identified and integrated into the masterplan. An options assessment, including preliminary costings, for future wastewater treatment will be integral to the project.
4. Urban Design: Options for the creation of improved local active transport connections and traffic calming to promote walking, cycling and other forms of micromobility within the village area are to be identified and explored. Potential for the creation of alternate centres of activity should be investigated.
5. Housing Diversity: Understanding the housing needs of the region including state and local government targets for diversity and affordability are to be reflected within the masterplan.
6. Agriculture and Land Use Conflict: It is acknowledged that any expansion of the village footprint will result in the loss of some agricultural land. The masterplan should reflect the need to protect surrounding important agriculture land for future food production and other rural land uses, and to create suitable buffers between agricultural and residential areas.
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There are multiple opportunities for the community to connect with us, with the first being a couple of community drop-in sessions at the Village Green on November 7 and 9. There will also be a survey questionnaire on Lismore City Council’s Your Say page. To stay up to date on the process and all opportunities to connect please sign up to our email list.
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Ethos Urban is leading the development of the master plan, Living Lab Northern Rivers is leading the community engagement process and Barker Ryan Stewart is undertaking the more technical engineering aspects of the plan. However, ultimately the consultant team is developing the masterplan together.
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Yes, please see Lismore City Council’s Your Say page.
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Council will resolve how the long-term implementation of the masterplan and community engagement will take place. In the meantime, you can join the mailing list to be kept in the loop as we embark on the engagement process.
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We have made sure to select a group that broadly reflects the Clunes community through a diverse range of ages, gender balance and life experience.
The selection criteria can be viewed here.
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The consultant team worked with Lismore City Council to select the members of the group using the selection criteria (see above).
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The Community Reference Group members have already been selected and notified. However, there will be plenty of other opportunities to contribute to the plan. Starting with a couple of pop-up community information sessions on November 7 and 9. To stay up to date on the process and all opportunities to connect please sign up to our email list.
We are excited to work with as many members of the Clunes community as possible in the master planning process and we hope to connect with you.