Community meetings to shape the future of Lismore:  Look Ahead with Living Lab Northern Rivers

Living Lab Northern Rivers is inviting the Lismore community and beyond to actively participate in shaping the future of the Lismore CBD with its ‘Look Ahead: Community design for Lismore’ design process. The process combines expert design, planning, engineering, and architectural insights with the lived experiences and future visions of the local community.

To begin Living Lab Northern Rivers is hosting two community meetings to give people an opportunity to share their ideas, dreams and needs for the future of the Lismore CBD. The community meetings will be held on Thursday 15 February, 4:30pm and Saturday 17 February, 2pm at Lismore City Bowling Club and are open to anyone who lives, works, is serviced by or is interested in the Lismore CBD and surrounding neighbourhoods. Due to the capacity of the venue, Living Lab Northern Rivers is asking people to register for one of the community meetings via their website at www.llnr.com.au/lookahead.

Elizabeth Mossop, Academic Director at Living Lab Northern Rivers, expressed the uniqueness of this opportunity, stating, “We’re bringing the absolute best expertise in design, planning, engineering, and architecture from around the country and locally to Lismore to look at all the issues around designing and rebuilding a better, more resilient CBD. Their work will be underpinned by the lived experience and future visions of people living in the Lismore community. This is a rare opportunity to be part of an independent, community-led design process to transform the Lismore CBD.”

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Look Ahead with Living Lab Northern Rivers

The panel includes many of Australia’s best urban design experts, some with family connections to the Northern Rivers region, including Nicole Gurran (University of Sydney), Ben Hendrix (Mecone), Sharon Wright (Hassell Studio), James Davidson (JDA), John Choi (CHROFI) and Jamie Simmonds (Water Technology). Together they’ll explore the ideas that come out of the first community meetings, developing them into specific scenarios that can guide Lismore’s future development. These scenarios will be shared at further community meetings in May.

Dan Etheridge, Engagement Director at Living Lab Northern Rivers, highlighted the urgency and necessity of envisioning the future of Lismore, stating, “It’s time to look ahead to the future Lismore with our eyes wide open. We know that there will be more big rains in the future and our rivers will swell and top their banks. We know that rebuilding our spaces and places the same way as we always have is not going to cut it anymore. But do we know what kind of place we want this to be 20, 40, 60 years from now? How do we steer towards greatness if we have not been able to really envision where it is we want to be?”

Living Lab Northern Rivers will be working independently of the Lismore City Council process (which will focus on the entire local government area). However, the outcomes of ‘Look Ahead’ will be an important piece of work for their consideration. Living Lab Northern Rivers’ job is to make sure all the high-level research that it brings to the table is underpinned by lived experience, specifically for the Lismore CBD and surrounding neighbourhoods.

Look Ahead: Community meetings

• Hosted by Living Lab Northern Rivers
• Thursday 15 February, 4.30pm—7.00pm
• Saturday 17 Feb, 2.00pm —4.30pm
• Lismore City Bowling Club, 171A Molesworth Street, Lismore.

Both meetings will be Auslan interpreted. Transport and onsite childcare is available. Participants should attend only one of these meetings, as they will be the same. For more info and to register for the meetings visit here.

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