Scott Tanner began his role as the Tropical Cyclone Alfred Recovery Coordinator yesterday. A job he has been fully immersed in since accepting it last week.

But what exactly does a Recovery Coordinator do?

"So, I'm really still unpacking it, but the area of operation is anywhere that Tropical Cyclone Alfred impacted, and it's based on those national disaster direct declarations that they put in place.

"Really, the brief is getting community back up and running again, and getting all the functional areas working, getting all the functional area people talking to each other, so make sure the transport and health and education are all on the same page and there's no duplication, making it a speedier process.

"I guess if you actually really wanted to nut it down to something really basic, because I'm a basic type of person, is that I want to be able to get the community back near as possible to how it was before we went into this event. And that's going to be difficult, because we're still suffering from the 2022 event. So, sort of like you're bringing us back from a disaster, back to half a disaster, if that makes sense, as quickly as possible."

"We learned from 2022, and I tried to get out of the habit of comparing to 2022 because that was just a monster. People say, Oh, geez, you've done a great job, you've got people back into their homes really quickly and out of the evac centres. Yeah, because they had homes to go back to. They weren't destroyed. Whereas in 2022, they had nothing to go back to. We forget there were thousands of homes that were uninhabitable.

Where are you starting the recovery?

"The things that we can control, certainly the cleanup of the debris, that's going exceptionally well. They've completed 1547 rapid damage assessments across the area so far.

"They're finding very, very low levels of damage. So that's businesses and houses that they've inspected. That's really good. So, there's a few that obviously have sustained some variety of damage, you know, trees in the backyards, or a tree on the garage roof and things like that. A quick fix. Get in, get it out of there and get their insurance involved. And then, if it's not insured, they might be eligible for some funding."

The pace at which Scott and the team are moving is impressive. Lismore, Kyogle and Tweed shires have been completed, and the cleanup and assessments are now focused on the Coffs Harbour area. This process is carried out by mutliple agencies.

"It's the SES, the RFS and Fire and Rescue. They also sometimes call upon the ADF to help. And what it is is basically they'll go and have a look at a place or property, they log it on their system and go yes its habitable, minor damage, take photos, and then that can be sent off as part of the impact assessment.

"For instance, we'll go, Okay, we know, there's, for instance, five houses that need their roof repaired. So then you put that onto the insurance company, if they're insured, and you go, right, I'll get on to trades quick and then quarantine that trade network for that area.

"So, really, my role is about making sure the priorities are aligned, things don't drag, and there are no double ups too. An example was given to me today, that after 2022 flood event, there was a lot of stuff about the road network and Public Works we're doing some and Transport for NSW we're doing some and they're both trying to source the same contractors.

"And you go, well, what's more important, is it driveways to people's places, or is it a main arterial road that connects community? So that's what we want to get away from this time, is that there is no duplication, that we know we can share the trades and get the right people."

While flood waters have reced in Lismore, it's not the case in Coraki, as is the case after every flood as the water from the Wilsons and Richmond rivers make there way slowly to Ballina.

"The further out you go, the more we're finding. I've got a lot of photos sent through from National Parks, and they've been smashed. So they're road networks, which you never really consider, that need fixing so it can reopen. Because people want to come to our state parks and our national forests, and if they can't access it, they're not going to come. That has an impact on industry, has an impact on accommodation, tourism, all that kind of stuff."

From today, people can access the Recovery Access Points in four locations in Lismore, Tweed Heads, Coffs Harbour and Ballina. The addresses are:

• Tweed Heads – Tweed Heads South Community Hall Cnr Heffron St and Minjungbal Dr, South Tweed Heads, open 9am - 5pm

• Lismore – Southern Cross University, Military Road, East Lismore Room V1.19, open 9am - 5pm

• Coffs Harbour – C.ex Coffs 2-6 Vernon Street, Coffs Harbour, open 10am - 6pm 

• Ballina - Ballina Surf Club Lighthouse Beach Parade, East Ballina, open 9am – 5pm 

For simplicity, the Lismore Recovery Access point is listed as V1.19, which is the Visual Arts building at the top of Southern Cross University. This is the first building on the left when you drive down University Loop from the Ballina Road/Rotary Drive roundabout, or if you drive to the top of Rifle Range Road from Industry Drive/Cynthia Wilson Drive.

These are only the permanent Recovery Access Points (RAPs), there are also quite a few mobile Recovery Access Points for those who live away from the big towns:

13 March 2025

• Dorrigo -  Dorrigo Community Hall, Hickory St, Dorrigo, from 11:00am to 1:00pm
• Ocean Shores - Ocean Shores Community Centre, 55 Rajah Rd, Ocean Shores, from 11:00am to 1:00pm
• Kyogle - Kyogle KMI, 6-8 Stratheden St, Kyogle Entry via Roxy Lane, from 2:00pm to 6:00pm
• Mullumbimby - Mullumbimby Civic Hall, 55 Dalley St, Mullumbimby, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm
• Bellingen - Uniting Church Hall, Cnr Hyde & Ford Streets, Bellingen, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm

14 March 2025

• Coraki - Mid Richmond Neighbourhood Centre, Shop 1 - 121 Richmond Terrace, Coraki, from 11:00am to 1:00pm
• Nana Glen - Nana Glen Community Hall, 26 Grafton St, Nana Glen, from 11:00am to 1:00pm
• Murwillumbah - Murwillumbah Civic Centre Auditorium, 10-14 Tumbulgum Rd, Murwillumbah, from 11.00am to 1.00pm
• Woodburn - Mid Richmond Neighbourhood Centre, 123-125 River St, Woodburn, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm
• Byron Bay - Marvell Hall, 37 Marvell St, Byron Bay, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm

15 March 2025

• Wardell - Pod Village, Bath Street, Wardell Recreation Ground, from 11:00am to 2:00pm

Please note: this information is subject to change, with more locations to be rolled out based on community need.

Scott Tanner said how important it is to get out to other parts of the Northern Rivers.

"It's nice having a central point for these RAPs, which you know might be Lismore, but we need to make sure that we get out to Coraki, that we get out to Woodburn, we get out to Evans Head and feed those services out there.

"The RAPs are for people to come and access services. So there'll be Service NSW, there'll be Welfare services, Health services there. People there can actually step them through the grants process, for instance, or they can come to us and go, You know what? I have got damage at my place, or I need this.

"Really it's about having a central contact point to come to and speak face to face with a person and not be online, or having to talk to a phone or AI, and getting that support. But we're really going to ramp up the wellbeing support in these RAPs because we know this is re-traumatised a hell of a lot of people, including emergency services and essential workers.

"We have definitely seen that. I mean, we had to evacuate our police station again, and that brings back a thousand memories. We had to move our police out of Woodburn and Coraki. People forget they lost their homes and all their possessions last time. And we had twenty of our own police who lost their homes in 2022.

When the mobile RAPs are visiting our villages, they will be in vans and cars.

"We'll just stack it up with whatever we need to, because it might be a unique place of a community like down in the Bellingen area, Meldrum. The little locality of Meldrum is not an actual town, but it's a locality. And there might be a hall there, but it's really impacted. So, we go there for a couple of hours a day and say, hey, here we are. We can come to you.

"Again, a lot of these communities, the telecom network is still not up everywhere. So, we found before in 2022 that people don't want to go to the big towns or the big cities to access these services. They want us to come to them. So that's what I said to the team. We are flexible. For instance, I was speaking to a couple of guys on the team, and they said, Oh, we can't get up to Dorrigo because the road is shut. So I said I'll get you a helicopter. Simple. I've got the resources of the state at the moment. So, you know, for me, that's a no brainer. You can't let that get in the way of people getting support.