Sandhills Wetlands Wins Three Major Awards for Heritage, Infrastructure and Sustainability
The Sandhills Wetlands project in Byron Bay has been recognised with three prestigious awards in 2026, celebrating its outstanding contribution to heritage protection, stormwater infrastructure and environmental sustainability.
The project has won the Landscape category at the 2026 National Trust (NSW) Heritage Awards, taken out first place in the Asset and Infrastructure category (projects over $1.5 million, population under 100,000) at the Local Government Professionals 2026 NSW Excellence Awards, and won the Environment and Sustainability Initiative award at the 2026 Parks & Leisure Australia Awards.
Led by Byron Shire Council, the Sandhills Wetlands restoration transformed a 5.5-hectare site, previously degraded by sand mining in the 1960s; into a thriving wetland system behind Lawson and Massinger Streets, opposite Clarkes Beach.
Completed in December 2025, the project forms Stage One of the broader Byron Bay Drainage Strategy, addressing flood resilience, water quality and habitat restoration for the town centre.
Key achievements include:
+ Three constructed stormwater treatment wetlands providing approximately 6,000m³ of storage capacity
+ Environmental modelling predicting 52% nitrogen reduction, 66% phosphorus reduction and a 40% reduction in stormwater volumes, while capturing 100% of gross pollutants before discharge to Cape Byron Marine Park
+ 1.4 kilometres of new shared pedestrian and cycle paths connecting Tennyson Street to Massinger Street
+ Extensive native revegetation supporting a wildlife corridor extending to Cape Byron, with increased sightings of wallabies, frogs and birds
The project was delivered in close collaboration with the Australian Government (via the Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program), the NSW Government, and Aboriginal co-design partners including the Arakwal Corporation and Tweed Byron Local Aboriginal Land Council.
These awards reflect the project’s success in integrating flood mitigation, water treatment, ecological restoration and community access within a single, award-winning landscape.
