Bellingen Shire Council has secured $1 million in funding through Transport for NSW’s Safer Cities: Her Way 2 program to enhance safety in Urunga CBD. Council will work collaboratively with Transport for NSW to develop improvements that aim to make public spaces, and transport hubs feel safer, more welcoming and vibrant for everyone, especially women, girls and gender diverse people.
The project will focus on providing safety upgrades to key areas of Urunga including key walking routes to and from the train station, shared paths across the town and other places with high pedestrian use. The project aims to improve perceptions of safety for the community, especially when moving around at night.
To ensure community input is meaningfully incorporated into the project, Council will engage with women, girls, and gender diverse people from Urunga and across the Shire to identify priorities for improvement and co-design solutions. Community engagement will include a series of walking sessions, where community members, key stakeholders and Council staff will visit identified locations in Urunga together to discuss their existing safety concerns and how they think the area could be improved through public space upgrades.
Following the walking sessions, participants will attend a workshop to collaborate with Council on an area of the design for the project, this may include elements of lighting, art or wayfinding. In addition, community surveys will be conducted before and after project implementation to capture feedback and measure the outcome of the upgrades.
Until Council completes the engagement and co-design process, the scope what will be delivered is not set in stone, however potential focus will be on delivery of lighting upgrades to areas such as the Urunga CBD, Urunga Boardwalk and upcoming South Urunga Shared Path, with opportunities to consider complementary amenity improvements such as wayfinding, street furniture and public art, as part of the broader design process.
Bellingen Shire Council Mayor, Cr. Steve Allan, emphasised the importance of this project.
“These upgrades are about ensuring the Urunga CBD is an inclusive, welcoming and safe place for everyone. We want all members of our community to feel safe and confident moving freely through the town at any time, day or night,” said Mayor Allan.
“Urunga is an important regional transport hub, connecting our community to essential bus and train services. Improving lighting and wayfinding between these key areas is a priority, helping to enhance accessibility and make it easier for people to navigate safely to and from these services.
“We’re taking past feedback on safety in the Urunga CBD to help inform the engagement for this project. We are also encouraging women, girls and gender diverse people in Urunga or the Shire to express interest in the walking sessions and workshops that will take place for this project.”
Minister for Transport John Graham said this was another example of the positive impact of the Safer Cities program.
“The Safer Cities program has already engaged with around 30,000 people to shape projects across more than 80 communities across the state.
“Whether walking, riding or using public transport, everyone has the right to travel safely and feel safe in public spaces, both day and night.
“It’s important we continue to invest in programs like this to help deliver local upgrades that make a big difference in building safer, vibrant, thriving communities for everyone.”
Find out more about the Urunga Safer Streets Project on our website.
This project will be delivered in partnership between Bellingen Shire Council and the NSW Government through Transport for NSW’s Safer Cities: Her Way program. Find out more about the program on Safer Cities: Her Way | Transport for NSW