Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk: project update 9

The Dorrigo Escarpment great walk and Arc Rainforest Centre projects have entered the detailed design phase, with consultants selected and engaged. Hear about our new project delivery partners and other project updates below.

Meet our design teams

Terroir take on the Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre

Terroir has been selected as the principal design consultant to bring the Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre to life. An architectural practice based in Sydney, Hobart and Copenhagen, Terroir brings a breadth and depth of experience to the project.

Working with a range of sub-consultants, it will use the concept design principles, detailed site information and your feedback to create an imaginative and inspiring new visitor centre that improves accessibility and showcases the natural and cultural values of Dorrigo’s World Heritage rainforests. The principal architects have been onsite recently along with cultural and interpretative design, engineering, landscape design, services and bushfire specialists.

Suspension bridges by Forge 

Forge (formerly Fleetwood Urban) has been selected to design and construct the 5 main bridges along the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk. Forge has been delivering inspirational outdoor structures in Australia for more than 5 decades and will work with Abseil Access, the company behind dozens of innovative suspension bridges on New Zealand tracks and trails.

Camp design with Bligh Tanner 

The structural and environmental engineering company Bligh Tanner has recently been awarded the contract to design the camps on the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk. Bligh Tanner has a strong focus on environmentally sustainable design and integrating contemporary design with the surrounding natural environment. It also brings world-leading experience in water quality management – a critical requirement in such high-rainfall locations within pristine catchments.

Walking track construction EOI open

An expression of interest (EOI) to tender for the design and construction of the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk walking track is open until 24 June 2025. The works include natural surface track building and the installation of stone steps, retaining walls, drainage structures and track features in remote and challenging terrain. In addition, local businesses and sole traders who want to be considered for subcontracting various walking track building services to the principal contractor should register their interest via Buy.NSW.

NSW Public Works support

NSW Public Works has been responsible for the delivery of some of NSW’s most crucial construction and infrastructure projects. The Coffs Harbour office of NSW Public Works has provided expert advisory, planning and support services to lead the procurement and governance processes for several of these major contracts.

Public consultation closes soon

A reminder that the public exhibition of the environmental impact assessment for the Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre project is closing soon. 

The review of environmental factors describes the environmental impact assessment of the proposed activities to construct and operate the new visitor centre. It examines the significance of likely environmental impacts of the proposal and details the measures required to mitigate adverse impacts to natural, cultural and social values.

You can have your say on the draft review of environmental factors until Monday 16 June 2025. Visit www.environment.nsw.gov.au/consult to view the reports and make an online submission.

The environmental assessment for the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk was exhibited in February this year and is proceeding to the decision stage. Public feedback has been summarised in a submissions report to help the determining authorities decide whether it should be approved, and under what conditions. The final review of environmental factors and associated reports, along with the submissions summary, will then be published.

Behind the scenery in Dorrigo National Park

All access at Baliiga picnic area

Local landscape contractor Jack Buchanan and his team have been working through the rain this year to provide a pathway from the historic picnic shelter to the new accessible toilet at Baliiga (Never Never) picnic area. Jack has used locally sourced materials to ensure the path sits well in the landscape and complements the remote natural setting. The pathway is the latest step to improve accessibility to the picnic area facilities so more people can enjoy the remote beauty of this special part of Dorrigo National Park. 

Dorrigo Rainforest Centre also offers free hire of a TrailRider all-terrain mobility wheelchair for visitors to use on sections of the Wonga Walk. The TrailRider has handles at the front and back, which allow guides to manoeuvre the chair on walking tracks that are not wheelchair-accessible, including up and down stairs. The use of a TrailRider requires a minimum of 2 guides. Read about one family’s experience of the TrailRider at Have Wheelchair Will Travel and watch the Parks Victoria video Wild Places: Exploring parks using a TrailRider wheelchair. Visitors should phone ahead on 02 66575 913 to book the TrailRider.

Rainforest rehabilitation challenge

Recent visitors to the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre will have noticed storm damage from ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred near the Lyrebird Link ramp. The storm impacts have been exacerbated by the continuous vine canopy that snaps off or drags down neighbouring trees when one tree falls. The loss of up to 8 large trees has opened up the canopy here, allowing sunshine onto the rainforest floor.

These treefalls have highlighted a long-term problem. A section of rainforest south of the current Skywalk was cleared 75 to 100 years ago, evident in air photos from the 1950s. Natural regeneration of these areas has been restricted by the prolific growth of native vines. The vines form a thick cover that stops plants from germinating and restricts tree growth by shading and physically ‘choking’ tree crowns. Recent arborist investigations for the proposed Arc elevated walkway have highlighted the lack of trees over 150 mm in diameter where vine growth is thickest. Any trees that do manage to struggle through have restricted crown growth and risk being overcome by vines and snapped off.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is working with rainforest regeneration experts to develop a rehabilitation plan to control rampant vine growth and aid natural regeneration. The potential success of this strategy has been demonstrated along the Lyrebird Link track, where a low vine canopy collapsed onto the track and was cleared in 2021. The subsequent explosion of seedlings from the dormant seed bank in the exposed areas has seen impressive regrowth of pencil cedar, soft corkwood, prickly ash and other pioneer species, reaching more than 5 m in less than 4 years. Anyone interested in this rehabilitation project is invited to contact the project team for more information.

New cultural artworks honour the spirit of place

Visitors to the Bellingen Shire Council Chambers will now be greeted by a transformed garden entry space that celebrates both natural beauty and cultural identity. The 3 art pieces by respected Gumbaynggirr artist Brentyn Lugnan represent each region of the shire. They were crafted from logs removed from the Baliiga picnic area in Dorrigo National Park as part of the recent picnic shelter conservation works.

The sculptures were created through a process that Brentyn describes as part intuitive, part ancestral homage: ‘There’s a beautiful irony in using those logs and painting the old ways and old people inside them. It’s almost a living reference to our ancestors in this area.’

Each artwork reflects the essence and identity of its respective place, with the Dorrigo piece featuring traditional U-shapes, the oldest known symbol for people, representing gatherings and the Gumbaynggirr people’s connection to Country. 

Mayor Steve Allan said, ‘The addition of Gumbaynggirr artwork and native plants not only beautifies the space but also creates a public area that is inclusive and reflective of our shared cultural story.’