Broken Ridge is a 44ha site located on the Coast Road 3 km south of Suffolk Park and about 9 km south of Byron Bay. Broken Ridge is an ‘eco village’ within the meaning of the Byron Shire Rural Settlement Strategy 1998. The development has been designed to strictly accord with the exacting provisions of that Strategy. It is a Community Title subdivision for 12 rural lots, located in 3 distinct clusters and 1 neighbourhood association lot containing all of the roads, services and site rehabilitation works.
All the proposed dwelling lots are clustered within the cleared part of the site west of Midgen Creek. All existing vegetation is retained, with vegetation corridors actively extended throughout the site, being embellished over time to become a private ecological sanctuary.
Only 14% is set aside for residential accommodation with the balance being for community land. The project has a development density of 2.25 dwellings per hectare.
The underpinning character of this development is the way in which it responds to the physiographic and biological characteristics of the site whilst integrating with the character and scale of the surrounding landscape. All existing vegetation has been retained, and substantial active and passive reforestation has been carried out within the community property. This reforestation work is guarded by a community environmental repair strategy.
A community wastewater management system is an integral component of the development criteria. It ensures maximum re-use of treated grey water on individual allotments, together with a centralised state of the art black water treatment system incorporating subsoil irrigation of community property lands.
Location – Broken Head, NSW, Australia
Year – 1991 – 2007
PLANNERS NORTH, Town Planners, Northern Rivers, NSW
