July 1 was the official first day for the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation. Not that the corporation has been lying idle since CEO David Witherdin was announced as the man to head the Northern Rivers rebuild on April 19.

It has been a 'foot to the floor' two and a half months so the Lismore App had a chat with Mr Witherdin to find out what progress has been made especially on the housing front.

There is a lot of information to cover so we have split this into a two-part story.

Welcome to Part II which looks at the future including land release, medium-density and social housing following on from Part I which looked at voluntary purchases and land swaps from the Flood Property Assessment Program

When thinking about the tight housing market, does this mean fast-tracking land availability?

"Definitely, we're certainly looking at that already. What are suitable lots and where are they. Of course, they are in short supply. We're looking at both publicly held land and private land and over coming months as we work through the voluntary purchase program and the other planning issues coming out of the Independent Flood Inquiry, that will be a key focus for us."

"There will be a need to move through that and come to a decision in quick time. As many people will be living in temporary accommodation, I think we owe it to them to get them out of that and on a pathway to normality as soon as we can."

Land release has been a sensitive and often divisive issue for Lismore City Councillors over a number of years, how does that affect your decisions?

"The powers of the Corporation, are as such, we can buy land and develop it, that's one of the core powers we've got. Our intention, in the first instance, is to always work with the community and in doing that, work with council on it but I would appeal to everybody for expediency."

"That doesn't mean we don't work through the proper and robust processes but we will quickly need to get to outcomes. We can ill afford to be spinning our wheels and we can't sit around waiting for the next flood to come."

"We'll consider all avenues but we've all got to be committed to the same outcome here and we have to find reasons to make things work rather than identify barriers why they won't."

"Anything we do is going to be a compromise. We're never going to have everybody on board but if we have a strong evidence base that underpins what we do, it is time to push on and make decisions and get things done.

Can you explain the need for medium density and social housing in the redevelopment plans?

"Particularly for Lismore, that has to be integrated into everything we do. We know there are some really tight pressures that existed pre-floods that are exponentially worse since. I think we need to challenge those current constraints that are in place and be prepared to be a bit more innovative in our approach. "

"I've had a lot of early engagement whether it's with local planners, developers and community housing providers, they've all got a strong interest and are willing to give any ideas around this so I am keen to embrace that as well. I am keen to expose the community to that as we move through it but I just think it's too good an opportunity to miss."

"We rarely get an opportunity to re-set the whole trajectory of the area going forward, in terms of its housing, its economic development and so on so let's pull all the levers we can as part of it."

"This is not about recovery or reconstruction or infrastructure, what we're aiming at here is a really vibrant and flourishing community into the future. So, it's not about how we recreate what we had and more of the same. It's how to do things significantly differently that leads to positive outcomes."

"Lismore and the Northern Rivers is full of the most creative people you would find anywhere, I think some really big thinkers, we're going to embrace that and embrace the opportunity for change."

"In terms of developing land and property, the last thing we need is a cookie-cutter type McMansion developments. I don't think anyone in the community or anywhere wants that sort of thing so let's keep our mind open to what the possibilities are to do it in both an innovative and exciting way."

The Lismore App will have regular updates from CEO Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation David Witherdin so, as a community, we know in detail, what the situation is and what the plans being considered are.