The Mt Pleasant Estate in Goonellabah held another community meeting on Saturday. About 40 local residents turned up to hear about and see the new plans that the NSWRA (Reconstruction Authority) team had put together since their first meeting in May.

The Mt Pleasant Estate land was purchased by the NSWRA and announced in March this year. One of the plans was to relocate four flood-affected homes into the estate and offer them to flood-affected residents, and those not purchased would end up on the open market.

The announcement also said that up to 50 homes would be built in the estate, a number that the local community felt was too high during the first community session. Traffic volume, walking paths, the value of housing around the neighbouring area, and the surrounding bushland around Tucki Tucki Creek were local residents' concerns.

Of course, some residents left with not happy faces; however, Kristie Clarke from the NSWRA said they were happier than the first session.

"We'd made some adjustments to the master plan. So, we had taken on board the community feedback from the last community session that we had, we'd reduced the overall development size from 50 lots to 39. But also, there were some consistent themes that people were concerned about around traffic. We were able to myth bust around homes being relocated and ensuring that they're in a presentable and finished state when people move in. It's not going to be an extended time of development and refurbishment of those four relocatable homes, and that's part of the first stage."

Kristie and Jamie Simmonds explained that the four homes were from Molesworth Street, East Lismore and would be relocated before Christmas.

When you looked at the homes on the prepared poster, neighbours on Just Street were worried they would be presented in the same condition. Kristie and Jamie mentioned a couple of houses down the hill on Just Street that have been finished to a high standard and are on the market for sale.

(An example of a traditional Lismore-style house in pristine condition on Just Street)

"We're trying to get them relocated before Christmas. There will be work that will continue on them post-Christmas to get them into that refurbished state with landscaping, but our aim is to get them relocated before Christmas."

"We're prioritising people who've been impacted by the 2022 floods in the first instance, and we've run some expressions of interest through those impacted buyback homeowners to see who's interested in relocating to this development in Mount Pleasant. There's approximately 30 to 40 who have registered an interest. So, they'll be prioritised first before we go out to an open market. We've run two focus groups this week, on Wednesday at The Living Lab, and there is interest already in relocating to Mount Pleasant."

What has the change in the number of dwellings, 50 to 39, made to the master plan?

"There's been some changes to the size of the blocks, but also the level of density in the overall master plan. In terms of aesthetics, you saw on the plan that there's some open green space. There's a commitment to also look at this back reserve area in Tucki Tucki Creek.

"We had some reps from the local Landcare group attend today, and the RA are keen to work with them into how we can preserve and make some enhancements to that reserve area as well."

Medium-density housing is still on the table but now totals three townhouses in the estate. One of the interesting changes to the master plan was having some communal land shared by about three or four houses. This is not common in Lismore, but it is not new either.

(The NSWRA team at Mt Pleasant Estate on Saturday)

"This concept is not as common to Lismore, but it's not; I don't think it's a new concept. This was some of the feedback that's come through from earlier sessions, but also feedback from the community that the Living Lab has been running. People still want green space, particularly if there's higher-density living. Not everyone wants to be living on top of their neighbours. They want to have some green space there, too."

In essence, the residents would purchase and own their own houses and the land it sits on. But they would co-own or share a parcel of land at the rear of each house. This works in a similar way to a strata title for units and townhouses, where owners pay a certain amount of money for the communal space to be maintained.

As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Residents will wait and watch as the four relocatable homes are moved and renovated in the next six months.