2023 is the year Lismore and the Northern Rivers start the rebuild which we know will take at least 5 years but more likely 10.

The NRRC Resilient Homes and Resilient Land packages will see progress with some house buybacks finalised and suitable land identified for residential development and the initial CSIRO report will reveal the first steps of flood mitigation while the complete study is being finalised in May 2024.

In the meantime, we can reimagine what Lismore can be in the future. The Living Lab in Woodlark Street offers some different potential solutions for living on a floodplain while other Australian natural disasters provide other suggestions to build a better Lismore, like the Newcastle Earthquake of 1989.

(Newcastle earthquake 1989. Photo: NSW Govt)

On 28 December 1989, Newcastle was devastated by an M_L 5.6 (M_W 5.4) earthquake. This was one of the most significant natural disasters in Australia's history. The earthquake damaged 40,000 homes, 147 schools estimated at more than $4 billion in today's terms.

·      The epicentre was approximately 15 km SW of the Newcastle CBD (near Boolaroo) and the focus was calculated to be at a depth of about 11 km

·      The earthquake claimed 13 lives: nine people died at the Newcastle Workers Club, three people were killed along Beaumont Street in Hamilton, and one person died of shock

·      300,000 people were affected and 1,000 were made homeless

·      50,000 buildings were damaged (approximately 35,000 of these were homes)

·      300 buildings were demolished

·      160 people required hospitalisation, while the Royal Newcastle Hospital was evacuated

·      It left a damage bill estimated over $4 billion (Insurance Council of Australia) - normalised to 2017 values

·      The effects were felt over an area of about 200,000 sq. km, with isolated reports of shaking felt up to 800 km from Newcastle

·      Damage to buildings and facilities occurred over a 9000 sq. km region, an area equivalent to over 160 times the size of the Sydney Harbour

·      The damage was most severe on soft sediments from the Hunter River, with shaking intensity of MMI VIII observed at many locations

·      One aftershock (M_L 2.1) was recorded on 29 December 1989

(Source: Newcastle Library)

The earthquake in Newcastle was relatively small magnitude compared to the one in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011, in which the recovery and rebuild is mostly complete but some elements are ongoing.

How can we use this as a model for our own rebuild?

Enter Marcus Westbury - creative thinker. In 2008 Marcus conceived an idea for his hometown of Newcastle to invigorate the town following the long lag of empty buildings which continued to pervade Newcastle’s CBD after the 1989 earthquake. This idea in Newcastle in 2008 led him to work globally in led urban revitalisation using innovative low-cost creative strategies, through Renew Australia 2013.

Westbury’s project - Renew Newcastle made use of “otherwise empty shops and offices in commercial and public buildings in Newcastle, Australia and made them available for short term use by artists, creative projects and community groups.”

His concept, Renew Newcastle was conceived to “find short and medium-term uses for buildings in Newcastle's CBD that were vacant, disused or awaiting redevelopment, to bring activity and life to the city.” While Lismore’s CBD is already coming back to life with more shopfronts displaying the For-Lease signs, there are still many buildings that are empty and awaiting repair.

In Newcastle, the empty spaces “created a series of flow on effects related to a reduction in crime, graffiti, vandalism and a decline in general amenity of the CBD.” Like Lismore, many sites in Newcastle were boarded up, unused and vandalised due to no foreseen short-term use or ownership of these sites.

Renew Newcastle as a model created and publicised opportunities for “creative people to innovate, test, develop and transform their enterprises and to activate and maintain those buildings until they became commercially viable or were redeveloped.”

In 2013 Marcus Westbury’s crowd-funding campaign produced a book giving insight into the creative processes and ideas behind his award-winning and globally replicated urban regeneration project, Renew Newcastle. Creating Cities, a small book with big ideas for local places. The model can be used as a vehicle to activate buildings until Landlords and Real estate secure future long-term leases on that site. Westbury’s model was discussed last year at the inaugural Creative industries Forum hosted by Arts Northern Rivers; for a sector-led approach to recovery following the flood disaster.

The ‘Renew’ “idea cannot simply be replicated but must be tailored to the context of each town or community we work with to achieve successful outcomes.” It’s just as important for us, as Lismore locals, as for Community Organisations and Council to look at recovery models to rebuild our vibrant City.