On Monday's Talking Lismore podcast with Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin, the Wollongbar Pod Village closure was a topic of discussion (Podcasts).

Temporary Housing has been a hot topic since the February 2022 flood when 4,055 properties were deemed uninhabitable, and 10,849 were assessed as damaged. 1,440 people were housed in emergency accommodation before 11 Pod Villages were created, with 546 temporary dwellings placed on villages in the Northern Rivers.

Audit NSW released its recommendations in February 2024, saying The NSW Reconstruction Authority should:

• Develop a plan for the provision of temporary housing.
• Review the temporary housing waitlist.
• Determine a timeline for demobilising the temporary housing villages.
• Develop a strategy to manage the transition of people into long-term accommodation.
• Develop a process for state-wide recovery lessons learned.

The Lismore App attempted to discover what progress has been made in the five months since the report was released through a series of questions:

1. Has the NSWRA developed a plan for Temporary Housing?

2. Has the NSWRA reviewed the temporary housing waitlist? How many people are waiting for temporary accommodation? How many people are accommodated out of their preferred LGA?

3. Has the NSWRA determined a timeline for demobilising the temporary housing villages? What is that timeline? Will the closure of the Wollongbar Pod Village put more pressure on those looking for housing?

4. Has the NSWRA developed a strategy to manage the transition of people into long-term accommodation? What is that strategy?

The NSW Reconstruction Authority provided the Lismore App with the following statement:

Residents in the Wollongbar temporary housing village are being supported to transition to more permanent housing options as temporary arrangements come to an end. 

In the aftermath of the devastating floods in 2022, the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA) rapidly established 11 temporary housing villages in the Northern Rivers, with the assistance of councils and other landowners under crisis accommodation planning exemptions. 

State and federal disaster recovery funding has enabled the provision of rent-free accommodation in the villages, along with access to other services and opportunities, to help people get back on their feet. 

The lease for the site at Wollongbar is due to end in 2025.

The RA is working closely with Northern Rivers Housing, Homes NSW, and local support services to engage residents in transition planning and support them into housing that is appropriate to their needs - be it private rental, aged care, assisted living or social housing. A transfer to vacant accommodation in other temporary villages may be an option for eligible households where needed.

As per the lease agreements made with councils to create the Temporary Pod Villages, the RA must return the land to council as it was or in an improved state, so all pods, caravans, communal facilities and other infrastructure needs to be removed. 

Residents have been asked to move out of the village before 15 November 2024. The village will then be decommissioned between November 2024 and April 2025.

The Lismore App understands there are currently 84 households living in the Wollongbar Pod Village. We still don't know how many are waiting for accommodation or where they are living.

As for developing a plan for Temporary Housing and a strategy to manage the transition of people into long-term accommodation? That either has not been completed or is not to be shared with the community. One can only ask what happened to the promise of open and transparent communication so residents are informed about the flood recovery that we experienced and are living through.