During a chat for Talking Lismore, the Lismore Apps podcast, Mayor Steve Krieg revealed the news that will please the entire Lismore population that, "For the first time in Australia's history, the state government has committed to fund a locally led disaster recovery program."

The community, and to a lesser extent Lismore City Council and Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin, has criticised, first the NRRC and now the NSWRA (Reconstruction Authority), about the pace of Lismore's flood recovery effort. A prime example has been the city's Sewage Waste Treatment Plants.

It has been well documented that these necessary facilities have been on 'life support' since February 28, 2022. If Lismore builds new housing, as has been announced in the Resilient Land Program (East Lismore, Goonellabah, and North Lismore), the Sewage Treatment Plant would not be able to cope with the extra use and would, more than likely, not operate within EPA guidelines.

At this stage, not much detail is known, but the mayor said it is a deal worth tens of millions of dollars.

"We've only just got the assurance yesterday that they were going to fund that (Talking Lismore was recorded on Thursday), but that's another thing that the executive team at Council and I have been working on with the state government to get across the line."

"Basically, this means that Lismore City Council can employ the staff to drive the flood recovery. We're not going to be relying on different government agencies directing us. We actually start to guide our own flood recovery, and that means up to 60 staff fully funded for the next three to five years while our flood recovery works are taken on.

"We've already got some of the best people in the country that have come to Lismore City Council to help in our recovery, and now we've got the ability to attract more because they're all fully funded to do the work over the next half a decade."

More details will be revealed during the week, but this is a major shift for Lismore's Flood Recovery. It should mean that we see quicker results physically, which could bring projects forward by up to 12 to 18 months leading to a faster recovery economically.

During Talking Lismore, we also spoke about last week's minor flood, the removal of the Terania Street rail bridge, the opening of the Lismore Regional Gallery and the 2024 Lismore Local Council Election, which gains more importance given the flood recovery news.

You can listen to Talking Lismore through Podcasts on the Lismore App or on the Lismore App website https://talkinglismore.buzzsprout.com/.