BANGALOW & POSTCODE 2479

The Bangalow 2479 postcode covers an area that incorporates the township of Bangalow and a surrounding rural population including St Helena, Coorabell, Possum Creek, Newrybar, Binna Burra, Brooklet, Nashua, Fernleigh, Knockrow and part of Coopers Shoot.  Bangalow’s population is approximately 1,200 with an additional 2,500 people in the surrounding rural population

In keeping with the strong community spirit, Bangalow has a wealth of community organisations, such as Chamber of Commerce, Lions, Bridge Club, Cubs and Scouts, CWA, Garden Club, Land/Rivercare group, Parks Committee, Playgroup, Pool Trust, Poultry Club, Progress Association, Quilters group, Sports Association, Rugby, Soccer and Tennis clubs and a Writer’s Group.

The township has expanded greatly over the past two decades, with several new residential subdivisions spreading towards the township boundaries.  Many new settlers are moving to Bangalow as the character and sense of community in Byron Bay has altered dramatically over recent years and many coastal settlers now prefer the lifestyle that the village offers.  Bangalow is renowned for its strong community spirit and has one of the largest populations of families in the Shire.

Bangalow is also renowned for its picturesque countryside and agricultural pursuits.  The surrounding green, rolling hills are a patchwork of fruit trees, macadamia orchards, dairy cattle and other agricultural activities.

Many specific events happen in Bangalow throughout the year and it is quickly gaining a reputation as a centre for music and cultural development.

HOW DID BANGALOW COME ABOUT?

The word Bangalow is a native word and was used by one J. Henderson, in a document of 1851 referring to a particular Palm tree.

1851 J. Henderson Excurs N.S.W. II.ix.229 The Bangalow or Bangalo is a palm and a native of the brushes. Its bunch of large leaves surmounting a fine, straight stem has a very beautiful effect. Ref. the Complete Oxford English Directory.

If we are talking about the township, then the poster of Campbell’s first sub-division is very material. On offer by auction on 1st April were “good business sites, ideal spots for homes. A rare chance to become your own landlord!” There is a copy of the poster on the wall in Millers Bangalow Real Estate. It shows that most of the land that had been selected by Robert Campbell.

Robert Campbell was one of the first settlers in this area arriving in 1881 and selected – Under the Roberson Land Act of 1861 – 640 acres which extended to the north and west of Byron Creek. The area was already well-known and worked by the cedar cutters (Ballina and Lismore were well established by this time). The area to the north and east of these municipalities being christened,” The Big Scrub” for the vegetation was very dense; it was very discouraging to settlement.

Marion Campbell with her three young children joined her husband on the selection after some five months – when he had made a clearing and built a house.

By 1903 (two decades later) there was a school on a 3 acre site the police station and Court house on one acre, the showground was established – complete with a hall, the catholic church was built and the railway ran through the selection. Roads were well established and named after the Campbell children. Readings Store was in business too.

Both husband and wife played major roles in this remarkable transformation. Marion is credited with getting the school started, and the post office established – against some opposition – suggesting the name be Bangalow – it had been Byron Creek- after the palm trees that grew both here and around her home town in the Hunter Valley.

Robert gave land for the Catholic Church and all denominations to establish the present cemetery: leased, then sold the land for the showground (24th June 1904), built two hotels in Bangalow one is Leslie Street and one on the site of the present one, as well as playing a leading role in the rapidly developing agriculture.

There is a survey map of 1907 showing Robert Campbell’s holding of 615 acres 2 roods and 39 perches excluding railway, school, roads and police station’ for £614 -14s – 11d recorded on the 12 June 1903 at  The Lands Department in Sydney.

THE SPIRIT OF BANGALOW PROGRAM

“Bangalow is a village with a strong and caring community that values its heritage, its environment and its diverse dynamic people, working towards a sustainable planned future”

In 1990 American Professor of Architecture Henry Sanoff and a group of university students visited Bangalow to conduct a community consultation process to plan Bangalow’s future in the wake of the announcement of a highway bypass.  They produced a document titled ‘Bangalow - Small Town Image Building’.   The program was called the Spirit of Bangalow, but it wasn’t adopted at the time.

Inspired by the recommendations of the Sanoff Report, the Main Street Committee was formed in 1992 to draw up plans for the renewal of the precinct areas of Bangalow.  In 1994 the Chamber of Commerce raised funding to produce the Bangalow Main Street Plan.

The Bangalow Main Street Study is an excellent document that was thoroughly planned with extensive community consultations.  It made a series of recommendations, with many of the projects implemented over the past decade.  These improvements have included tree plantings at the entrances to town and in the main street, heritage verandahs on the main street buildings, tasteful signage, some street seating, some footpath paving and the superb restoration of the A&I Hall.

The planning from this document and the implementation of projects over the past decade by a dedicated group has helped make Bangalow the attractive village it is today.  Bangalow residents are fortunate that they had far sighted leadership qualities within the town to start a community consultative process as far back as 1990.  The work that will be carried on into the future is building on a solid foundation.

At the end of 2003, the Bangalow Chamber of Commerce received funding from the Towns and Villages Futures Program through the Department of State and Regional Development to conduct two planning workshops and develop a community strategic plan.  They received additional funding to produce a Business Directory, a website and other promotional materials.

The two community planning workshops were held in March 2004 to review previous plans and produce the community strategic plan. The name Spirit of Bangalow was first nominated in the 1990 planning process and won by a landslide in the voting process of 2004.  The name is reflective of the strong community spirit in Bangalow that is still apparent 14 years later.

The new community plan identifies issues in the following group areas: economic development, physical development, social development, events, marketing and cultural development.  Project teams work together to implement the projects in each group.  Group leaders meet each month to report progress and the results are published regularly in the community’s newsletter Bangalow Heartbeat.

The following link will enable you to read and if you wish print the full Spirit of Bangalow report 2004.

Full text of the Spirit of Bangalow Report in pdf format, 27 pages