During last Tuesday's NSW Budget announcement, the Government announced a further $150 million for a new Community Restoration Fund. $100 million of that is allocated for the Northern Rivers and part of that total is to be allocated for the NRRCs (Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation) Resilient Homes Program.

That brings the total amount for the Resilient Homes Program (RHP) to around $800 million.

From where it started and what was promised to where it has landed, it is time to ask "Is the RHP a failure"?

Back on the 19th of April 2022, then NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the establishment of the Northern Rivers Construction Corporation (NRRC) and introduced its new CEO David Witherdin to Lismore and Northern Rivers residents on the lawns of Southern Cross University.

“The NSW Government is in this for the long haul. We will support the people of flood-impacted communities, across the Northern Rivers, every step of the way,” Mr Perrottet said.

“We know the community needs certainty. We are working through recovery and we have an independent Inquiry underway (Professor Mary O'Kane and former NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller) that will hear from all of those impacted, from experts and the scientific community.

“The NRRC will be able to draw on the recommendations from the Inquiry and lead the long-term reconstruction work to build certainty for future generations.

"This cooperation will ensure we build back stronger, better and in a way that protects people well into the future. 

“The rebuilding of Lismore and surrounding areas will require a united, effective and coordinated response to enable everyone in the community to plan for the future and get on with their lives, and that will be the driving responsibility of this new authority.”

The NRRC plan was to get the high-risk houses off the floodplain; of course, the majority of these were in the Lismore LGA.

It is well known that the NRRC identified approximately 2000 homes in the Northern Rivers that would be eligible for a House Buyback as part of the now-established Resilient Homes Program, plus 2000 homes would be eligible for House Raisings and another 2000 homes for a Retrofit.

David Witherdin and his team estimated the project would cost $1.5 billion. This was tabled in parliament.

The NRRC received $700 million for the Resilient Homes Program and $100 million for the Resilient Lands Program with the promise of a second tranche of funding, expected to be the other $700 million to be announced after the NSW State Election in March 2023.

The Liberal/National Party announced the establishment of the NSW Reconstruction Authority in December 2022 before announcing Simon Draper as the CEO on the 23rd of February, 2023.

As we know, Labor easily won the state election, and Chris Minns became the new Premier of NSW. Locally, Janelle Saffin won with the largest Labor vote in history.

For the people of Lismore and the Northern Rivers, it didn't matter whether it was a Liberal/National Party Government or a Labor Government. The community wanted what was promised: "This cooperation will ensure we build back stronger, better and in a way that protects people well into the future."

When Premier Chris Minns visited Lismore on April 4, 2023, he told the media, "It's really important that the new government sends a message to the businesses, to the community who live in this part of New South Wales that we are there with them for the long haul. We know the rebuilding effort is going to take many years. We know the capital and investment from the New South Wales Government and the Commonwealth Government must continue to flow so that Lismore can rebuild and that we make sure that promises made are promises kept, even if those promises were made by a previous government of a different political persuasion."

When Tranche 2 funding for the Resilient Homes Program would be announced has been a continuous question to the Premier, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully, Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib and CEO of the NSW Reconstruction Authority (NSWRA) Simon Draper.

The alarm bells began to ring when Minister's Scully and Dib visited Lismore as part of the 're-set' of what was now being touted as a failing flood recovery program.

Minister Dib said, "We've heard really loud and clear today, yesterday and last week about the importance of the funding. Now we know that we've got this funding envelope right now, but some of the things that have been really interesting that have come out today have also been the idea that not every one of the problems that people are experiencing in their communities is going to be resolved by additional funding. Obviously, our job as Minister Scully and myself is to be able to report back to be able to speak to the Premier to be able to speak to our Cabinet colleagues about what we've seen, what we've experienced and the community feel and the community expectation."

Minister Scully said, "There's no one answer. Right? A lot of people have seen Tranche 2 as part of the solution. A lot of people have raised issues around making sure infrastructure is more easily able to be rebuilt, people have raised flood mitigation adaptation measures that need to be done. People have also pointed out the fact that there's a disconnect between some of the business programs and where that support might need to be done."

"So yes, I know a number of people think Tranche 2 is very, very important, and it will be important for a lot of people, but what that Tranche 2 looks like, what its components are made up of, what else might need to come along in the three to six to 12 months and beyond of the recovery process is part of the exercise we're doing here today."

The alarm bells became louder when flood modelling used to determine the RHP eligibility included a maximum flood height of 13.5 metres or 1 in 500 years, excluding the February 28, 2022, flood completely (14.4m).

On June 27 this year, Simon Draper talked with the media via an online hook-up and made a controversial admission when he corrected earlier public assessments of the total homes that would fall under the buyback scheme.

The Lismore App wrote:

According to Mr Draper, the total figure has been misunderstood, stating that total buybacks were not 2000 homes, but a total of 2000 homes that fall under the entire package of buybacks, retrofits and house raising.

Mr Draper clarified the total amount.

"The 2000 homes were across all of those treatments (buybacks, retrofit and house raisings)," he said.

The Lismore App uncovered a document dated 4 November 2022, from the NSW Government (including letterhead) that was sent to all media as background information. We cannot print the document as it clearly states "The document itself must not be printed". However, it clearly states under the Resilient Homes Program that approximately 6,000 Northern Rivers residents are eligible for Resilient Homes Program assistance. This includes 2,000 residents who will be eligible for voluntary buybacks.

Later in the document under Home buy-backs, it states that Home buy-backs will be offered to homeowners in areas at risk of frequent flooding. Other considerations for buy-backs include the level of damage from this year's flood and safety risk.

So, how did Lismore and the Northern Rivers communities go from a clearly stated 6,000 houses as part of the Resilient Homes Program which included 2,000 house buy-backs estimated to cost $1.5 billion to 2,000 homes across all streams with a total near $800 million?

Does it all come down to money? The government simply does not want to spend the promised amount of money in Lismore and the Northern Rivers?

We started out with a program that moves the most vulnerable off the floodplain due to being at high risk of frequent flooding, to being left with a program that removes badly damaged houses and certain houses that are vulnerable to future flooding. The result will be a patchwork of housing in North Lismore and South Lismore where some streets could have three or four homes.

What happens to the social fabric of those communities? What happens to the now vacant blocks of land between houses and who maintains them?

The start of the post-flood recovery journey had some optimism attached, as you imagined the uses for a mass of vacant land on the Lismore floodplain. The potential was to create an attraction in that environment that would bring locals and visitors regularly into the CBD. Now, it appears we will be left with a patchwork of land and housing that cannot be rebuilt on and is more than likely too small to build anything meaningful for the benefit of Lismore.

Premier Dominic Perrottet said, "This cooperation will ensure we build back stronger, better and in a way that protects people well into the future." 

Premier Chris Minns said, "We want to make sure we've got a growing and resilient Lismore that's here for the next 100, 200, 300 years....and beyond."

With more people leaving Lismore post February 28, 2022, big flood and the Resilient Lands Program moving at a glacial pace, how many years will it take for Lismore to grow again?

As for the resilient part, we now wait for the CSIRO report and flood mitigation.......