During our recent chat with David Witherdin CEO of Northern Rivers Construction Corporation (NRRC), the discussion moved onto the $100 million Resilient Lands Program.

This is where the NRRC talks to private landholders, as well as the State Government for crown land, around Lismore and the Northern Rivers with the hope to purchase out-of-flood rural land at a fair price that can be quickly re-zoned residential so the land can be turned into over 2000 houses. As we discovered last week, some of those are likely to be affordable and social houses after an MOU (memorandum of understanding) was signed with Landcom.

It is still too early for the NRRC to be signing contracts with any landholders but we do know that over 200 expressions of interest were received.

"We're working through the assessment of all those expressions of interest right now," Mr Witherdin told the Lismore App," Kieran Hendicott is our strategy, planning and development person leading the lands component."

"There is a whole series of filters we apply like where it's located to existing villages, its accessibility to key infrastructure so water, sewer, power, and transport because if we are going to build these things but if you need all these trunk infrastructures upgraded, it might take you two or three years to get there. Whereas, if you tap into that (existing infrastructure) it will make it quicker if it is land ready so accordingly zoned."

"Look price point is really one of the key objectives as well. Ultimately, we can acquire land, we can rezone it, we can develop it and bring it on to the market but if you can't bring it on to the market at a price point that is affordable it defeated the purpose."

"If it's affordable, it enables people to stay within the community, so it's a significant challenge because the Northern Rivers essentially had a housing crisis pre-flood."

"I think in some way there's an expectation that we will just come in and solve everything and you know, we'll do our bloody best. But, you know, some of the regional housing pressures aren't just unique to the Northern Rivers. You know, that's right around the country but we've done a pretty in-depth piece of work around it.

"All of the interventions that we can lead in terms of driving down that price point for the land we are trying because there is a whole lot of different things that government can do in terms of pulling different levers. We actually sort of worked through that with the Advisory Board last week, so it's a pretty advanced piece of work.

When asked about providing a time frame for when the first land announcement will be made, Mr Witherdin replied "Around the first quarter of 2023 I guess those early opportunities will be known."

"Moving forward I think it's important to understand we're not just looking at the private estate that's come forward through the EOI (expression of interest) but at the public estate as well. So, we are doing a significant piece of work there around crown land and so on as well because it certainly does give you the opportunity there in terms of price point."

Mr Witherdin confirmed this includes the Lismore Local Government Area too.

"When we've been through that expression of interest process, it's really important that we've got robust probity around all aspects of that particularly when you come to private development. If somebody's going to get an accelerated pathway to bring their land to market, that we've been through a really rigorous process even though it is rapid, that's why it certainly takes a bit of time to get that assurance around it."

"I'm confident they'll all move in the right direction pretty rapidly and I think you know there's no reason to think we can't sort of unlock the capacity we need right around the Northern Rivers and particularly in Lismore also."

Mr Witherdin understands that price point is a determining factor in retaining residents in Lismore and the Northern Rivers.

"Within two or three months you've executed 3 or 400 voluntary purchases. The last thing you want is a mass exodus of people from the community as well. So you sort of have to match that demand and supply as much as possible. And to that extent, having extended settlements for people will be critical, but people are going to be able to see options for them to remain within the community and be connected as part of that. I think it's critical."

The community will also be consulted on the preferred opportunities as will councils throughout the Northern Rivers.

"It will certainly be done with Council but there'll be a big engagement piece there with community around it as well," Mr Witherdin said.

Logistically, there are elements of this program that, we the public, don't think about. Accommodation for workers is one and infrastructure building material is another.

"We're putting our mind now to temporary worker accommodation as well because when you look at it, all of the work that's going to roll out just in our space, and then the broader infrastructure recovery, we know there's about a $5 billion worth of work there. To bring that workforce in, there's not enough accommodation in the area. So, we're just starting work on an overall workforce strategy as part of that. It's an accommodation strategy to support them."

"There are so many things that flow from all of these decisions because you're just getting so much above what your baseline was. Pre-flood, the market was sort of running right at a peak anyway and then we've essentially doubled that again. So, even if we could bring the labour in and there's different opportunities for that, where do they stay just trying to get accommodation in Lismore at the moment can be pretty challenging."

"We're working through identifying a whole range of, I guess, capacity constraints. One of the key ones is in terms of gravel for road reconstruction. "We know that with all of the quarries in the Northern Rivers operating at their maximum capacity they can only supply about half of our needs."

"In terms of the road reconstruction, that's the work we're doing within our infrastructure Coordination Office. We're going right, what do we need to do there in terms of driving further development around that, what can we bring in from outside of the area? What's our shortage when you look at the overall quantum of infrastructure work in terms of project managers within local government for their peak?"

"So, we're asking ourselves is there an opportunity for us to run a procurement exercise and bring in an office full of project managers so local government doesn't end up white-anting each other for the resources? They just sort of all chase the dollars."

Without wanting to open Pandora's Box, could that lead to quarries, such as Santin's Quarry in Monaltrie, which was shut down by Lismore City Councillors in December 2020, being reestablished to meet the demands of the region in the short term? Mick Santin has said previously, he has over 100 years of gravel in his quarry. Or for that matter, will the Lismore City Council quarry finally become profitable?

Mr Witherdin said he would absolutely have to have those sort of conversations with councils and also said, "Every time you work a quarry harder, you work the road network in and out of that harder as well. So, there's all of those flow-on impacts that have a further reaction down the stream. That is the sort of thing we're dealing with."

Interestingly, if the gravel didn't come from local sources it would have to be sourced from outside the area meaning more pressure on the road network from a greater distance.

As Mr Witherdin has said, there is nothing in Australia (that he is aware of) that has ever been done on this scale to rebuild a region.

"We work with our Infrastructure Coordination Office with all of the directors of infrastructure across the seven LGAs and all the State Government delivery agencies. So, we've got that overall picture of what's happening and then sort of looking at what the resourcing needs are. It's really complicated but a leading piece of work. There's so much, I guess, intellect that goes in from the team towards building this approach."

"I think as we get a bit further down the track we'll have some pretty interesting stories to tell from it."