Byron Shire earthworks, from Murwillumbah

Excavation in Byron Bay, Brunswick Heads and Ocean Shores

Luke brings his Kubota excavator, ASV posi-track and Fuso tipper down from Murwillumbah for driveway repairs, trenching, clearing and soil removal in Brunswick Heads, Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby, Byron Bay, Suffolk Park and Bangalow.

Call Luke 0488 987 325 Text Luke a photo

Or send the job details online

Google 5.0 out of 5 from 2 reviews
Liability and equipment insurance held
ABN 58 346 068 875

Owner-operator: Luke quotes the job and runs the machines
5.5 t class Kubota excavator and ASV RT-60 posi-track
Fuso Fighter tipper, about 7.5 t payload
Spoil to lawful tips or approved sites, with dockets

Dirt Werks Kubota U55-4 excavator, ASV RT-60 posi-track and Fuso Fighter tipper parked side by side

Owner-operatorLuke, over 10 years operating machinery
Based in MurwillumbahWorking the Gold Coast to Lennox Head
Insurance heldLiability and equipment, certificate on request
Google 5.0 out of 5From 2 reviews, October 2026
ABN 58 346 068 875Registered business name DIRT WERKS

Earthmoving from Brunswick Heads to Bangalow

Dirt Werks is Luke, an owner-operator based in Murwillumbah. In Byron Shire he works Brunswick Heads, Ocean Shores and Mullumbimby in the north, and Byron Bay, Suffolk Park and Bangalow to the south. Luke prices every job himself and is the one in the cab on the day.

Byron Shire is a different council from the Tweed, with its own rules on driveways, acid sulfate soils, trees and fill, and its own tip at Myocum. Below are the ground and flood risks town by town, then the Council rules to check before a machine turns up. Further north is Pottsville and Cabarita; further south, Lennox Head and Ballina.

Jobs Luke takes on in Byron Shire

Gravel driveway repairs and re-sheets

Surface prepped, new gravel tipped and levelled with the posi-track, then watered and rolled. Sealing is done by others afterwards.

Trenching for services and drainage

Luke digs and backfills, and your licensed plumber or electrician lays and connects. On rural jobs he lays culvert and drainage pipe himself, including farm ag drains.

Clearing and rural earthworks

Trees and stumps removed at the owner's request, plus dams, creek crossings and access tracks.

Soil removal and deliveries

Spoil and rubbish carted away on Luke's tipper. Gravel, road base and soil brought in from quarries.

Machine and operator hire

Wet hire: the excavator, posi-track or tipper comes with Luke running it.

Ground and water, town by town

Town	What Council and the SES say	What to plan for
Brunswick Heads	A village on the Brunswick River estuary, with mostly flat ground in the original village. Council says the lack of flood-free land severely restricts future development.	Check the acid sulfate class before trenching. Near the river, the DCP says no stormwater from buildings or hardstand is to go to the river.
Ocean Shores	Hilly, with some areas marked environmentally sensitive for landslip or slope. Low streets such as Balemo Drive and Rajah Road can flash flood.	Slope and run-off on hill lots, flash flooding on the low streets.
Mullumbimby	Backed by steep hills, and much of the town is flood prone. The NSW SES says the Brunswick River reached 4.97 m at Mullumbimby in 2022.	Slope on hill lots, flood rules before any fill on the flats.
Byron Bay	Drains to Belongil Creek. Council says creek and town can flood from heavy rain and high ocean levels.	Check the flood and acid sulfate maps before trenching.
Suffolk Park	A flash flood catchment with minimal warning times. The upper Tallow Creek catchment is steep to undulating, and the lower catchment reflects ancient dune systems.	Run-off on the low ground, slope higher up.
Bangalow	A valley of State significant farmland with gentle slopes, some steep hills and flood-prone land along Byron Creek. A substantial part of the urban area is a Heritage Conservation Area.	Flood rules near Byron Creek. In the Heritage Conservation Area, exempt earthworks must be in the rear yard.

From Byron Shire Council and NSW SES pages, as at October 2026. Check the current maps for your lot.

Byron Shire Council rules to check first

Driveways. Council needs a permit before any work on a driveway or elsewhere in the road reserve. Even an exempt driveway needs Section 138 approval under the Roads Act, lodged on the NSW Planning Portal, and one outside the exempt codes needs a DA as well. The stretch from your boundary to the kerb is the owner's responsibility, and Council says unapproved driveways may have to come out if they're a safety or public liability risk.

Excavation and fill. Where earthworks need development consent, Byron's DCP Chapter B14 limits excavation and fill to 1 m deep unless otherwise stated. Earthworks on land steeper than a 15% gradient, or with more than 1 m of cut and fill, need engineering detail from a structural or geotechnical engineer. Slope matters here: the NSW SES says landslips in 2022 significantly damaged properties and infrastructure in the Byron region.

Acid sulfate soils. Council says these sit in coastal floodplains, generally below RL 5 m AHD, and can produce sulfuric acid once excavation or a lower water table exposes them to air, corroding concrete, iron and steel. Under clause 6.1 of Byron LEP 2014, Class 1 land needs consent for any works, and Class 2 for works below the ground surface or likely to lower the water table. On Class 3 and 4 land the trigger is works more than 1 m or 2 m below natural ground, or that lower the water table that far. Council says no acid sulfate consent is needed if you can show the land was lawfully filled and the dig stays within the fill.

Get any approval the job needs, or confirm the work is exempt, before the machine is booked. Council's Development Support Officers answer approval questions on 02 6626 7025, and the council approval guide sets out the Tweed, Byron and Ballina rules side by side.

Where spoil goes in Byron Shire

Byron Shire's tip is the Byron Resource Recovery Centre at 115 The Manse Road, Myocum. Luke takes every load to a lawful tip or an approved site and keeps the dockets. Low coastal ground adds a catch: under the NSW EPA rules, dug soil can't be classed as virgin excavated natural material (VENM) if the Acid Sulfate Soil Risk Maps show any probability of acid sulfate soils at the site, unless chemical testing under the Acid Sulfate Soils Assessment Guidelines finds no detectable reduced inorganic sulfur. Settle where the spoil is going before the dig.

Keeping spoil on your own block saves tipper loads, but filling has rules here too. Byron's DCP Chapter C2 (effective 6 June 2025) sets minimum fill levels for flood-prone land, and its fill exclusion areas are shown on Council's Online Mapping Tool. New Brighton, South Golden Beach and Billinudgel have their own provisions. Check the map before spoil stays on a flood-affected lot.

How it works

From a photo to a finished job

Call or text Luke a photo
A wide shot, the gate or access, and the exact spot tells him most of what he needs.
Get a free quote
From your photos, or from a quick site look if the job needs it. No charge for either.
Book a day
Luke brings the right machine for the access and the job.
Dig, cart and clean up
Spoil goes out on his own tipper. The site is left tidy.

Got a job in Byron Shire?

Text Luke on 0488 987 325 with the suburb, a wide photo and a photo of the access, or use the quote form.

Call 0488 987 325 Send the job details

Byron Shire earthworks questions

Will you come down to Byron Bay from Murwillumbah?

Yes. Byron Bay, Brunswick Heads, Ocean Shores, Mullumbimby, Suffolk Park and Bangalow are all inside Luke's service area. It's a longer run than the Tweed towns, so ask about travel when you first get in touch. Text 0488 987 325 with the suburb, what the job is and a few photos, and Luke will tell you whether and when he can fit it in.

Can you get a machine onto a tight Byron Bay town block?

Send the gate width and a photo of the access, and Luke will match the machine to it. The ASV RT-60 is a compact track loader and the Kubota is a 5.5 t class excavator. Luke also needs to know where the tipper can park and tip on firm, level ground clear of overhead lines.

Do I need a permit to remove trees in Byron Shire?

Check before anything is cut. Byron Shire Council uses a Tree Removal Permit for removing or pruning trees on private land. Dead or dangerous trees go through an exemption option on the same form, with an arborist report, and removing or significantly pruning trees of heritage value needs a DA.

Do you do farm work around Bangalow and Mullumbimby?

Yes: dams, creek crossings, access tracks, culverts and clearing. For a new dam, NSW harvestable rights in coastal-draining catchments let you capture up to 10% of the average annual regional rainfall runoff from your land. The dam can go on a hillside, a gully or a non-permanent first or second order stream, but not on a third order or higher stream, or within 3 km upstream of a Ramsar wetland.

Sources (checked October 2026)