Lismore City Mayor Steve Krieg today announced that 1,558 residents will receive a grant of $650 from the Lismore Flood Appeal.

He said the Flood Appeal Committee decided to equally distribute $1 million between all eligible applicants in the first round of grants. 

“We hope these grants will go some way to helping our community recover from the February natural disaster,” Mayor Krieg said.

“I also want to thank all those who donated to the Lismore Flood Appeal, which so far had raised $1,559,252.43.”

The grants will be distributed to residents within the next two weeks.

Mayor Krieg said the committee had decided to distribute the grants in two rounds to create a ‘safety net’ for those who could not submit an application in the first round.

The second round will open for four weeks from 1 September this year. Any unallocated funds from Round 2, will be redistributed to all eligible applicants from both rounds.

The grants are available for residents in the Lismore Government Area who were living in a home in the inundation zone and suffered property damage or loss.

The first round closed on 11 July, with 1805 received.

Council staff reviewed all applications to ensure they met the eligibility requirements, with 1558 determined as eligible.

The reason applications were declined included:

• Duplicate applications
• Does not live in Lismore LGA
• Applicant is a business
• Applicant is a landlord
• Address was not flood affected

Council made contact with many applicants who did not provided proof of a flood-affected address or supporting documents to allow them the opportunity to update their application.

However, Council was unable to contact some applicants despite numerous attempts. We encourage these people to apply for a grant in Round 2 and contact Council on 6625 500 if they need further assistance.

No administration costs have been deducted from the funds raised, with all donated funds going to flood-affected residents.