It is the only leisure spot in town for locals and visitors to swim, fish and adore the scenic views of the escarpement, the Ngaali ( Old Man Dreaming or McGraths Hump) as stated in a letter to the editor:
"I did not see a long, high-level concrete bridge built for cars and trucks to speed through all this and dominate it. You can see those anywhere, everywhere. But one of those is what the Council’s consultants are recommending, in order to further consolidate the sovereignty of cars and trucks."
Here is the new "Concept Options Appraisal Report for Lavenders Bridge, Bellingen (pdf)
At first glance it does not appear to be a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that seamlessly integrates active and (emergency) transport networks across the river.
In "Urbanisation, megaprojects and dispossession in Asia, Sara Bardhan reviews 'The Political Economy of Megaprojects in Asia: State Power, Land Control, Financial Flows, and Dispossession. Hyun Bang Shin and Dong-Wan Gimm (Editors). Routledge. 2025.' (open edition)
I cite a few deliberations on megaprojects from the LSE Review of Books:
"It argues that megaprojects are deeply political formations that reorganise territory, governance, and social life in the service of capital accumulation and state legitimacy."
"...State power is restructured, legitimised, and consolidated to institutionalise megaprojects as “spaces of exception.” "
"Megaprojects are not merely infrastructural solutions to urban problems, but powerful political technologies that reshape territory, governance, and citizenship itself."
"Megaprojects reshape urban landscapes while simultaneously reconfiguring relations between the state, private capital, and local communities."
"...Sustainable,” and “world-class” urbanism often conceals speculative urbanisation, dispossession, environmental degradation, and undemocratic governance."
"Megaprojects embody a hybrid political-economic formation in which strong states continue to direct urban development while simultaneously facilitating private accumulation, deregulation, and financial speculation."
"Public lands and commons are transformed into commodities to attract private investment and generate speculative value."
"Megaprojects overwhelmingly benefit political elites, developers, financial institutions, and urban middle classes, while vulnerable populations bear the costs of displacement and environmental degradation."
"The social consequences of these processes are severe. The volume identifies three recurring forms of injustice associated with megaprojects: nondemocratic planning processes that exclude civil society, displacement and rising rents that marginalise low-income communities, and emerging forms of resistance against dispossession."
"Megaprojects overwhelmingly benefit political elites, developers, financial institutions, and urban middle classes, while vulnerable populations bear the costs of displacement and environmental degradation. The language of modernisation and sustainability often masks deeply unequal distributions of risk and reward."
"Megaprojects become symbols of global city ambitions and state legitimacy."
"Megaprojects restructure the built environment as a “secondary circuit” for capital investment, particularly in contexts where real estate and infrastructure become central sites for profit generation."
Image: Visions of the new Lavenders bridge over the Bellinger river, AI enhanced
