The north-south Pacific Highway and a highway from Bangalow to Lismore (connecting to the east-west Bruxner Highway) pass through the council area. The Pacific Highway is dual-carriageway north from Byron Bay to the Queensland border. A bypass at Coolangatta will extend the dual-carriage beyond Brisbane to Noosa. Further highway upgrades from Byron Bay to Ballina are in advanced planning stages at the present time.
Byron Shire Council maintains almost 500kms of urban and rural roads. Since the overwhelming majority of the tourists to the area arrive by road or rent a vehicle upon arrival, the usage of the local road network is intense. As such, road and bridge maintenance is challenging for the local Shire.
Byron Council is primarily a reticulator of water with 85% of its supply comprising fully-treated bulk water provided by Rous County Council. Water is drawn from Rocky Creek to supply Byron Bay, Bangalow, Brunswick Heads and Ocean Shores. Byron Council also owns and operates the bulk supply (Laverty’s Gap Weir) and reticulation assets that service Mullumbimby.
The water supply system comprises 1 direct filtration works (3.9 ML/d), 12 service reservoirs (24 ML), 6 pumping stations, 52.7 km of trunk mains and 164.6 km of reticulation. The water supply is fully treated.
Byron Council has sewage treatment works at Byron Bay, Bangalow, Brunswick Heads, Mullumbimby and Ocean Shores providing secondary, advanced secondary and tertiary treatment. System upgrades recently completed at Byron Bay are expected to supported existing and planned development through to 2030. Work in progress at Bangalow will support that area until the year 2032. Upgrade works for the Brunswick Valley are currently being progressed and will support Brunswick Heads and Mullumbimby communities until 2035. Facilities at Ocean Shores are expected to support that area until 2030.
In addition, Council operates three recycled water schemes including the Byron Bay urban reuse corridor, Bangalow bamboo farm and Mullumbimby agricultural users. Where treated water is not recycled it is assimilated back into the environment at Ocean Shores and Byron Bay by way of constructed wetlands.