Mullumbimby Hospital redevelopment

Remediation works on the former Mullumbimby Hospital site have been completed subject to final signoff by the site auditor.  

We’ve done a quick check-in with the community to make sure we are on the right track with the vision, objectives, and urban design principles for this site. 

Council endorsed the Mullumbimby Hospital Site Strategy and Urban Design Protocol(PDF, 5MB)  on 15 December 2022. This document relies heavily on the 2018 endorsed recommendations from the Mullumbimby Hospital Project Reference Group.

More community consultation will be carried out as part of any future Concept Masterplanning and also for any Planning Proposal to amend the Byron Local Environmental Plan regarding land use or development standards such as height. 

Information and background to the Mullumbimby Hospital redevelopment project is provided below. 

The Mullumbimby hospital closed in 2016 when the new Byron Central Hospital at Ewingsdale was completed. 

The community campaigned for the site, which has a long and well-documented history of asbestos contamination, to be retained for community use.

In May 2017 NSW Health announced it would sell it to Byron Shire Council for $1.

The sale was finalised in December 2018 and work on the remediation of the site started in January 2019.

The Mullumbimby Hospital Site Project Reference Group was established to provide recommendations to Council on the best use of the site.

The Project Reference Group consisted of twenty-one community representatives and Councillors who undertook a 12-month participatory planning process in 2017 to 2018.

The Project Reference Group recommendations relating to uses for the site, design, and governance can be seen in the Recommendations - Council Report 22 November 2018 (Resolution 18-721).

All endorsed recommendations have been included in the Site Strategy and Urban Design Protocol.

Site remediation works have been ongoing following the demolition and removal of the asbestos contaminated hospital buildings, and discovery of additional contamination areas on the site.

The primary aspect of the site Remediation Action Plan is the capping of an area of the property primarily where the former hospital buildings were located.

Although the Remediation Action Plan works have now been completed, this is not the end of the remediation process, which is directed and concluded by the Auditor.  

The validation of the Remediation Action Plan will include a site survey to confirm compliance with the technical specifications of the capping containment structure. The outcomes of Remediation Action Plan process will be addressed in an Environmental Management Plan for the future management of the site.

The Environmental Management Plan will ensure the integrity of the encapsulation of the underlying asbestos contamination. Following endorsement of the Environmental Management Plan, the auditor concludes the remediation process with a formal Site Audit Statement.

This auditing and reporting process is currently expected to be completed by the end of 2022 to early 2023.

The cost of the remediation works has been substantial. Approximately $4.7 million. Cost recovery will need to be a pragmatic consideration for the future planning and development of the site.

Future land use planning explored by the Draft Site Strategy and Urban Design Protocol does not include the Coolamon Villa Catholic Healthcare facility.

At the meeting on 29 September 2022, Council made decisions about the lease with Catholic Healthcare.

View the Council resolution - 29 September 2022.