Dairy and river-flat country with a steep hinterland behind it and a town that is careful about how things look. Bellingen deliveries are decided by driveways and by ground, and the valley rewards a bit of planning before the truck is booked.
The Bellingen orders we see are mainly feed, fencing and machinery storage on the dairy and grazing blocks along the Bellinger, tools and materials for owner-builders working slowly on hinterland land, studio and workshop conversions on the smaller holdings, and dry lockable storage on flats that have been under water before. Whichever it is, you are quoted the container and the delivery as one number, and told plainly if the cheaper grade would do the job.
| Size | Used from | New from |
|---|---|---|
| 10ft Containers | $4,350 | $6,400 |
| 20ft Containers | $2,200 | $3,300 |
| 40ft Containers | $2,600 | $5,500 |
Guide only, ex GST. Nothing here is a fixed price and we do not pretend otherwise. Whatever the run to Bellingen costs, it is in the figure you are told and it does not move.
The Bellinger comes up, and anyone buying storage on these flats already knows it. The honest position is the same as on the Clarence: a cargo-worthy container is sealed against rain from above, not against water rising to the door seals. Once water is in, the container holds it, and an empty one is buoyant and will move in enough of it.
What it genuinely gives you is height, the ability to be moved with warning, and dry lockable space afterwards. Block it up on the highest firm ground you have, keep a truck a way in so moving it stays possible, and do not store the irreplaceable things at floor level. There is a fuller version in containers and flood risk, written for the Clarence but true of the Bellinger.
Bellingen sees more studio, workshop and small-building conversions than anywhere else we deliver, and the single most common regret is buying a standard container. Internal height on a standard is 2.39m. Take fifty to seventy-five millimetres off that for insulation and lining and you have a corridor. A high cube starts at 2.69m and ends up as a room.
The door opening matters as much: 2.58m on a high cube against 2.28m on a standard. If anything tall has to go in — a mezzanine frame, a bench with a hood, a boat, a tank — that number is what decides it. If a conversion is the plan, start with a new single-trip high cube rather than a cheap used box. The detail is on the high cube page.
Three distinct problems, depending on where you are. The river flats along the Bellinger are open and easy to reach in a dry month and hold water below the surface for a long time after rain, which is the same story as the Clarence flats and has the same answer — pick the week rather than force the date. The hinterland behind, up towards Thora and the escarpment, has long unsealed driveways with real gradient, creek crossings and causeways, and timber close on both sides, which usually narrows the choice to a crane truck reaching in from a firmer position. The town itself is the third case: narrow older streets, established trees and a strong local preference for things not being visually intrusive, which is worth thinking about when you choose where the container sits as much as when you choose the vehicle. Photographs of the approach answer nearly all of it.
Whatever the address, the same three checks apply: bearing, approach and clearance. If one of them is marginal we will settle the vehicle before quoting rather than discover it on the day — there is more in getting a container onto your block.
Usually, and the vehicle is the variable. Long unsealed driveways with gradient, creek crossings and overhanging timber generally point at a crane truck placing the container from a firmer position rather than a tilt-tray reversing in. Photos from the road end and of the spot settle it quickly.
A new single-trip high cube. The extra 300mm of internal height survives insulation and lining, the 2.58m door opening takes tall gear, and a single-trip unit has no repair history to work around. Converting a cheap used box costs more in labour than the saving on the container.
No separate delivery bill arriving afterwards. Ask what a container to Bellingen actually costs.
Or skip the form entirely.
Call (02) 5616 9099