I live in the area and fly GA as a lowly weekend warrior. Quite frankly, Ballina is a scary place to be at times. No taxiway, a stupid mix of traffic in the circuit and area, and way too many airfields nearby all sharing the same frequency.
In January 2022, Ballina was the 13th most popular airport in Australia for revenue pax movements at 72,620 (source: BITRE). That's more than:
DARWIN
NEWCASTLE
MACKAY
KARRATHA
ROCKHAMPTON
ALICE SPRINGS
AYERS ROCK
In the 12 months to January 2022, Ballina was the 15th most popular airport in Australia for revenue pax movements at 537,135. That's more than:
NEWCASTLE
KARRATHA
ROCKHAMPTON
ALICE SPRINGS
AYERS ROCK
In 2021, Ballina had 5,992 RPT aircraft movements. For the FY20/21 year, it was 16th in the country for RPT aircraft movements, despite COVID lockdowns.
...and yet, mysteriously, control towers remain in places like Coffs (almost half the movements), Albury (less than half), and many more!