Yesterday, the local community came together to hear what the findings of the NSW Government's Flood Inquiry would be and how it will affect their lives. A group of flood-affected people and Resilient Lismore volunteers were at the Premier's press conference waiting for the details.

Harper Dalton who has led the Relocate Lismore Homes initiative, gathering community interest and sharing information about the potential for House moving, was one of those at the press conference.

Harper told the Lismore App, "I could be in a safe situation next month if this was announced and the land was available".

"I have to say, I agree with Kevin Hogan on this one. Too slow! Particularly when we turn to QLD and see them months ahead of us when I've heard Lismore Feb/March floods is in the top 2 worst natural disasters in Australia".

Upon hearing the news that another La Niña is impending this Spring and Summer, Harper says "I feel re-traumatised, uncertain and scared for my future, I’ve worked almost every day, since the floods to make my home liveable, and spent most of the grant money doing so. Now I'm stuck in Limbo waiting, like so many in the community, we need more information!"

"I also don't understand why Council and State Government didn't start the process sooner, gathering expressions of interest, identifying land for buyback use, why larger grants haven't been offered so people can choose to move forward if they wish?"

Following yesterday's event and the release of the main Flood Inquiry Report that specifically stated that a small number of house buybacks will be offered, Harper says "There are more question’s now, our community is desperate for action. Without further detail, which is what we are all calling for, my initial commentary is that it is inadequate. It’s never occurred before to have people clinging to roofs for hours. It's very ambiguous and doesn’t seem to meet the communities needs."

The not-for-profit organisation Social Futures has welcomed the release of the NSW Flood Inquiry Report but is calling on the Premier to commit to more social housing for the region when details of house buy-backs and land swaps are released later this month.

Social Futures CEO Tony Davies said the people of the Northern Rivers were looking forward to seeing details of buyback and land swap schemes for targeted areas at the end of August – almost seven months after Lismore was hit by the worst flood in modern history.

“However, part of the response to this unprecedented flooding, also needs to be a huge investment in social housing for the region,” Mr Davies said.

“It is impossible to say how many people were displaced by this disaster. The SES said the flooding events of February and March state-wide left 4,000 homes uninhabitable, another 8,000 were inundated and another 8,000 were storm damaged – most of that damage was in the Northern Rivers.

“Among the thousands of people displaced were renters, now unable to secure permanent housing in the Northern Rivers. Buybacks and land swaps simply won’t address the massive housing crisis this region is facing.”

Mr Davies said before the floods hit, the Northern Rivers was suffering acute housing stress.

“During the pandemic, tens of thousands of people fled the locked-down cities of Melbourne and Sydney and fled to regional areas,” he said.

“The Northern Rivers is a very desirable place to live, given iconic towns like Byron Bay and Tweed Heads are here. We saw a big influx of people and the rental vacancy rate dropped well below 1%. Homelessness began to rise rapidly as pensioners, the elderly and single parents were priced out of the market.

“We were suffering a metaphorical housing storm, then at the start of this year, we were hit by a literal storm that destroyed thousands of homes.

“I implore the New South Wales and Federal governments to start building more social housing in the Northern Rivers because we do not want to see a generation of children growing up in tents, cars and on the couches of friends and extended family.”

(Image: Harper, Veronica, Councillor Adam Guise and other Lismore Residents supportive of Buybacks and House Relocations)

Veronica Nicholas (pictured above) said "I don't have enough information, but would like to know more about what's on offer. Ours is the highest house in the street, but we still lost all the things to the floor height, and we don't know what more to expect, the idea of another La Niña and more floods is worrying".

Veronica like many of the residents in Lismore also said that staying in the community, with family and friends is important, so buybacks that relocate large portions of the community to incorporate this would mean both safety and community connections for her and her neighbours.

Leonard Gray, a former South Lismore resident who fondly recalls growing up in the area, and whose Mother was rescued through her top-story lounge room window said, "It was such a concern, I had been speaking to neighbours, trying to get them to check on Mum, knowing she couldn't swim and wouldn't be able to get out herself. She had a panic alarm but the company was trying to send an ambulance to get to her, they are based in Melbourne, and I told them as the first point of contact, 'you won't get an ambulance to her, all the roads are under water!' It took us 5 hours to find her, we had people paging her at the SCU Evacuation centre, but she had been taken to another one."

"Mum will never go back into her house now, but a buyback would be great, at pre-flood prices. We haven't continued any further work because we just don't know what is happening although we want to put a kitchen in, with the insurance money, but it seems pointless to keep sinking money into something that might just flood again this year. We need details to make decisions."

Kevin, supported by his wonder dog Freckle, also spoke to us from his home in South Lismore.

Kevin says he still has just one powerpoint, and is living in limbo wondering what to do next, however, he would opt for a buyback under the right terms, particularly if he could relocate his home, but that he would need more details to make that decision. He wants to know if the block he is on would need to be fully cleared, also, what would happen if the house relocation wasn't included? He told us that at his age, he isn't able or willing to get a loan to build a whole new house.

As a community, we can only hope the timing the Premier gave to Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation CEO David Witherdin yesterday of "the end of August" is the latest date we will get details of house buybacks and land swaps.