Small and medium businesses in Lismore and the Northern Rivers stand to benefit from a new $9.5 million Towns and Villages Resilient Business Activation Program funded by the NSW Government.

The funding for businesses and local Central Business Districts (CBDs) is being delivered through the NSW Government’s Community Restoration Flood Fund to help support the economic recovery of villages and town centres in the Northern Rivers with direct activation and revitalisation projects.

Successful applicants must show how the project will benefit the local community and how it aligns with one or more of the Program’s objectives. 

Examples of projects that could be funded include repairing or replacing damaged fixed equipment, machinery, or infrastructure needed to keep the business operating or the implementation of flood barriers, elevated foundations, waterproofing, flood-resilient doors or windows and drainage systems.

The Program will be delivered across the seven most flood-impacted Local Government Areas in the Northern Rivers, including Lismore, Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Richmond Valley, Kyogle, and Clarence Valley, with each reporting the highest average damage and other costs for businesses.

Funding is available through two targeted streams:

• Stream 1 – Infrastructure support for small and medium sized business with grant amounts from $250,000 to $2 million.
• Stream 2 – CBD activation and revitalisation projects delivered by Councils with grant amounts from $50,000 to $500,000.

The NSW Reconstruction Authority has engaged the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development to govern the delivery and management of the Program.

Please contact programdesigndelivery@regional.nsw.gov.au or visit https://rd.smartygrants.com.au/rbap for more information about the Northern Rivers Towns and Villages Resilient Business Activation program.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said, “This program will provide financial assistance for the repair, restoration, and resilience of small and medium businesses that suffered significant damage after the 2022 floods.

“The areas eligible for these grants reported the highest average damage costs for businesses and experienced the highest damage assessments.

“Local businesses in small towns provide important products and services to the community and it’s important we support them thrive.”

Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said, “There are several locally significant businesses that remain closed or are only partially operational because of flood impacts and getting them back on their feet is incredibly important.

“Some of the towns and villages included in this program were the hardest hit in the 2022 floods and the NSW Government is committed to supporting their recovery and their ongoing resilience and viability.”

Parliamentary Secretary for Disaster Recovery Janelle Saffin said, “The 2022 floods had a devastating impact on many of these small towns and villages right across the Northern Rivers, and they require unique support in their recovery.

“If this funding helps support some of those anchor businesses or spruces up their CBD, then that’s very important to those communities.”