🟡 Slim Dusty, who's that?
Including: Kempsey student's big ideas for their town and the next step toward an affordable housing project coming to the MNC.
Brad Esposito
March 25, 2026
⏱️ The 106th edition of our newsletter is a five-minute read.
✋ Hello all, it's Ellie – your Mid North Coaster reporter.
Let’s start with a kind of iconic shot by yours truly.
I’ve been told some Kangaroos line up in the mornings to get inside Trial Bay Gaol at Arakoon (South West Rocks) – the grass is always greener, amiright?!
Sometimes, they’re so comfortable they won’t leave as staff lock up at the end of the day. Here’s a photo I recently took on a morning drive.
Silly Roo.
In todays newsletter we have two top stories:
1️⃣ Student representatives from Kempsey’s high schools and colleges recently presented some big ideas for how to improve their town at the monthly council meeting.
We’ll take a look at the proposals, from giving the Slim Dusty Centre a new look and name, to building a youth hub and increasing street lighting.
2️⃣ Nine years ago, a community-led organisation focused on finding solutions to the growing housing crisis proposed a Community Land Trust model for the MNC. The project would help local people on local wages be able to afford to stay in the area long term.
Bellingen Shire Council is now considering handing over a lot of land in Urunga, but first it’s asking for the community’s two cents.
🗓️ SOMETHING FOR THE CALENDAR
🟡The 2026 Foil Fest is coming to South West Rocks in May.
The Rocks FoilFest 26 is a free community event for the public to attend held between 8- 10th May.
There will be demonstrations on Saturday 9th at Main Beach, in front of the South West Rocks Surf Life Saving Club from 10am and foil races between noon at 3.30pm.
Spectators can watch from Horseshoe Bay headland.
🏡 Does the Urunga community want an affordable housing project in its neighbourhood?
(L-R) Location of the lot and a site scenario from November 2025. Bellingen Shire Council and WWCLT.
Bellingen Shire Council might hand over land for an affordable housing project in Urunga. But first, it’s asking the community what it thinks.
What happened: A community-led, not-for-profit organisation is working to create what it calls affordable housing solutions for locals in Bellingen Shire and the Nambucca Valley.
In 2017, Housing Matters introduced the Waterfall Way Community Land Trust (WWCLT) to support the “missing middle” – those on local wages who earn too much to qualify for social housing but not enough to buy a home or keep up with rising rental prices – with housing.
Kerry Pearse, Executive Officer of WWCLT, said the proposal is for “forever affordable housing” to help locals who live and work in the area to be able to stay.
Local impact: Pearse said the group noticed impacts of the rise in cost of living and property prices.
“Some people are leaving the area because they just can't find secure homes that they can afford to live in,” Pearse told Mid North Coaster.
“The CLT model offers a practical, community-owned solution to deliver housing that remains affordable for generations to come.”
How does it work: A Community Land Trust (CLT) is a form of shared home ownership to keep it affordable for locals, long term.
The trust owns and manages the land
Residents who live on the land typically lease or co-own their homes with the CLT
The land is taken off the market, removing its value. Limits are set on resale price to prevent people being priced out of a rising market
House prices are linked to local wages
Focus is put on procuring low cost or no-cost land
Can’t build without land: The WWCLT previously put forward a proposal to Bellingen Shire Council, asking for land it owns to be transferred to the WWCLT to deliver the affordable housing project.
At the November meeting, council agreed to move forward with the transfer of the vacant Lot 1 Ferry Street.
Council says its investigation into the potential transfer, or "disposal", of land for affordable housing aligns with council’s strategic plans and says the WWCLT initiative responds to housing affordability.
If the lot is transferred, the WWCLT said it could develop around six two and three-bedroom homes for local workers.
The next step of the process is community consultation.
Lot 1 Ferry Street. Image: Bellingen Shire Council website.
Community have a say: Council is now seeking community feedback on the potential disposal of Lot 1 on Ferry Street before a decision is made.
Online submissions close on Monday, March 30 (11:59pm).
What next: Feedback will be reviewed and presented as a report at the April Council meeting, where councillors will vote on whether to proceed, amend the proposal, or not progress with transfer of land.
📹 VIDEO OF THE DAY
Did you know the MNC has two of the state’s most polluted coastal waterways when it comes to microplastics?
Not a top 10 ranking we wanted!
Watch the video:
@midnorthcoaster Did you know we have two of the most contaminated coastal waterways in the state #midnorthcoast #australia #nsw #microplastic #waterways
Read the article:
🗣️ Youth hubs, arts centres and safe roads: Kempsey students tell council what they want for their town
What are some of Kempsey’s biggest issues? According to local students presenting at a council meeting earlier this month, community leaders must focus on youth crime, homelessness, and flood impacts.
What happened: Leaders from Kempsey High School, St Paul’s College, Melville High School, Macleay Vocational College and Kempsey Adventist School presented their ideas for the Shire at the March council meeting.
Council received a presentation by Macleay Vocational College leaders Gabe Robinson and Hunter Scrivener. Image supplied Kempsey Shire Council.
The students told councillors, the mayor and staff they want:
Purpose-built youth facilities and community hubs
A fresh look and feel for the Slim Dusty Centre
Improvement to streets including cycling infrastructure, accessible footpaths and street lighting
And for Rudders Lagoon bridge near the Kempsey Adventist School in South Kempsey to be raised to stop it from going underwater and cutting off access. The students also suggested the installation of flood monitoring cameras at the bridge.
Local youth issues: Macleay Vocational College presented a support model for youth group homes as a solution for the Shire’s issues of youth homelessness, crime and mental health.
Part of the Macleay Vocational College presentation for Youth Group homes.
Student representative and school captain, Gabe Robinson, explained a group home provides basic needs of safety, food and shelter while providing wrap-around services in health and education – including diversion programs and rehabilitation pathways.
Central space: Robinson said a central location is paramount for success. The student’s presentation suggested the empty Bunnings Warehouse site on Smith Street could be utilised or an additional wing could be built at the existing PCYC.
Youth Hub: Students of St Paul’s College echoed the need for a youth specific hub to address youth crime and homelessness.
The student representatives envision the proposed hub would include activities and courses for young people, while also acting as a hangout spot. Ideally, the hub would provide food, transport, donated clothes, connections to education and employment opportunities.
The students agreed with Macleay Vocational College that the hub would need to be central “to reduce the alarming rates” of crime and homelessness in the community.
Students presented a concept design for the youth hub they’d like to see in town.
Slim Dusty, who’s that?: Melville High School proposed turning the “desolate Slim Dusty Centre into a new arts centre”.
The students say the centre needs modernising and improvement to attract more tourists and community members, including local young people, who they say , mostly “don’t even know who Slim Dusty is”.
The student speakers suggested a name change, a vibrant mural, and focus on art and interactive experiences like live music events to showcase local talent.
Students suggested creating a tourist trail map linking all the murals of the Macleay Valley and presented a concept design of the envisioned mural for the Slim Dusty Centre.
Safer streets: Kempsey High School students presented ideas for cleaner and safer streets in the Shire, including more bins and cigarette disposal options, increased lighting in dark streets, like River Street, and LED street lights for energy-efficiency.
Students want accessible-friendly footpaths prioritised, more mobile speed cameras in high risk areas like Crescent Head Road, Plomer Road and South West Rocks Road and increased bike lanes and guard rails.
Adapting to disasters: Kempsey Adventist School representatives focused on flood preparation and risk mitigation. Access to the South Kempsey school on Crescent Head road is regularly cut off when Rudders Lagoon levels rise and the bridge and road is closed.
Rudders Lagoon bridge and Crescent Head Road close during a flooding event impacting student access to Kempsey Adventist School. Students suggested investing in raising the bridge and road.
Student representatives spoke of the importance of “equal access to education”, especially for students sitting the High School Certification, and suggested investing in raising the Rudders Lagoon bridge.
Councillors and staff acknowledged the high quality of the presentations, noting the students’ strong research, critical thinking and financial understanding, and in some cases asked for student’s presentations to be sent to the council.
Mayor Kinne Ring called the presentations “enlightening”.
“It’s very impressive to see how engaged you are and maybe one day you should think about potentially one day running for council,” the mayor said.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be on Friday with another newsletter.
In the meantime, make sure you’re following along on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and our website to keep up to date with local news throughout the week.
I hope you enjoyed this edition!
👋 Ellie