One week ago, following tireless negotiations and persistent lobbying by Lismore City Council, a historic agreement to fund the rebuild of around one hundred of Lismore’s roads and bridges, devastated by the 2022 natural disaster, was finalised with the NSW Government.  

The agreement not only signifies the governments confidence in the future of the city but also aims to streamline critical funding for transport infrastructure in the aftermath of natural disasters.  

The record investment of $860 million provides certainty for the city and the community that the many projects, previously stuck in a holding pattern, can now progress to full investigation and design. 

Brendan Logan, Council’s Chief Operating Officer, emphasised the magnitude of Council's work in securing this agreement as well as its implications for the city’s rebuild efforts. 

“This is one of the largest asset restoration funding agreements in Australia’s history, and we are grateful it is now in place for our Roads and Bridges component of the Flood Restoration Portfolio,” he said. 

“While initial costings for many projects have been determined, further assessment is necessary to understand the full scope of works.  

“This funding means Council can now progress with this investigation and the design phase with certainty and at a steady pace. 

“All going well, some of our most damaged sites, like Blue Knob Road, and Stoney Chute Road, are moving much closer to real restorative work commencing,” said Mr Logan. 

Mr Logan explained that Stony Chute Road has 11 separate damages on that road alone and around 100 damages in that northern part of the catchment.

"This allows us to get on with the design work that allows us to start to formulate contracts to get a managing contractor who will need to take the lead for a lot of this work. We're talking tier one, tier two construction contractor to lead a lot of this that will help us start that rebuild as quickly as possible."

The tripartite agreement, involving Transport for NSW, the NSW Reconstruction Authority and Lismore City Council, establishes a new, expedited funding pathway for reconstruction efforts.  

Previously, Council operated under a reimbursement model, completing work with its own funds and awaiting reimbursement from the government.  

This new agreement ensures upfront funding availability, removing risks and barriers for Council. 

“What executing this agreement does is lock in a cost estimate, which then provides working capital, which allows us to plan with confidence,” Mr Logan said.  

“We can lock in designs and start serious program development, and then begin the process of informing the community, our Council, and the market of what we will be delivering and when.” 

The NSW State government has previously expressed its commitment to assist flood-affected communities throughout the Northern Rivers region with the rebuild. That commitment made for good announcements, however, accessing funds has been a thorn in council's side until the $860 million announcement.

Again, while roads and bridges can move forward there are more components to Lismore City Council's Flood Restoration Portfolio including water (sewage), waste (rubbish), buildings and mitigation so Brendan Logan was delighted on one hand and cautious on the other.

"I temper my excitement pretty quickly because it's actually only about 60% of what we need or are eligible for an entire asset rebuild. While it's great news for the roads and bridges and those complex landslips and allows us to talk to the market, talk to our staff, talk to our community, talk to our councillors with confidence now because we've got access to working capital. There's still a lot of work to go ahead."

Another part of last week's $860 million historical announcement was the $60 million agreement that was signed for the buildings program.

"It got lost in that announcement last week. Ordinarily, signing a $60 million agreement is a big story. This covers our CBD buildings, our sporting fields, and some of that work that we have already commenced."

Funding for water and waste has been an issue in the past, especially when the first Resilient Land Program was announced at the SCU-owned land on Crawford Road. Over 400 blocks will need to be connected to Lismore's sewage system in 2026, which is on life support and is in desperate need of a total rebuild that will take three years. Where is this funding at now?

"This one has dragged on but look, I'm very pleased to say that through the help of James Bolton from New South Wales Public Works, we've been able to get those things back on track and at least visible to the right people."

"James and I have got quite close to the action there and made a few changes to how the projects are set up and now we're currently working through confirming the funding envelopes and more importantly confirming the agreements that need to be in place not just to ensure good use of public money, but that Lismore council is satisfied that the assets that are going to be rebuilt are fit for purpose for us. So, that's been quite a journey but all things considered, I'm feeling pretty positive about that and I'm thankful for James' help recently."

The $860 million roads and bridges and the $60 buildings announcement was wonderful news for our city. As Mr Logan said, it represents about 60% of the work that needs to be funded. Now, attention turns to securing a financial agreement for waste and water, another crucial component of the Lismore flood rebuild.