Last week, we published a story about being the only house on a street or the potential of having a street with a lot of vacant blocks and who will maintain them (Imagine being the only house left in your street).

That appeared to hit a nerve in the community.

This week, the Lismore App looks at North Lismore businesses.

With the highest number of house buybacks offered by the NRRC in North Lismore, the potential is to have an area with established businesses but no or little foot traffic, depending on how many accept the buybacks.

In a few cases, the businesses have shop-top living with the businesses on the ground floor, just like many in the CBD. One business we spoke to has been offered a buyback for their upstairs accommodation but not for their business downstairs. While another lives next door with a buyback for the home but, again, not for the business building.

Janet Goodwin at Totally Dogs is the second example.

"They are not interested in the shop, they won't touch it, so it's pointless."

Due to the buyback only being offered for her house, Janet is staying put, rejecting the buyback offer.

"Our business has stayed the same (since the flood), it hasn't changed whatsoever. In fact, if anything, it's got busier. Why I don't know."

Looking into the future, Janet says she will have to ride out the increasing number of people moving out of North Lismore.

"I really can't tell what's going to happen if they develop the new ridge at the top of the hill (North Lismore Plateau), then there will be more traffic coming down into North Lismore. But most of the street will be dead, won't it? I definitely worry about the future.

"If there's nothing here, then people aren't going to come to North Lismore, are they?"

Ian and Jennifer Juleff own the Clean and Green Laundry next to Totally Dogs. Ian said they have already noticed a change in population.

"The neighbourhood is emptying. When you drive around now, you can already see more and more of that New South Wales fencing going up. Virtually every week, I'm losing a couple of customers. We still, luckily, have customers that are out of the area, but it's going to change the dynamics of the whole neighbourhood."

Ian made reference to a house not too far down Terania Street that has accepted the house buyback and moved to Glen Innes.

"I can see the logic in it because the water was incredibly fast and dangerous. We put up with a lot more over here than the south and the CBD because we're between the two rivers, Wilson and Leycester Creek. I can see the logic of it, but it's going to look very, very different."

Ian and Jennifer have shop-top accommodation, and when it comes to discussions with the NRRC, they are only interested in the accommodation side and not the business.

"It's absolutely ridiculous. As you can see, the business is part of the property, it can't be separated. So, that means this is worthless, according to them. Now, they've said that all shop-tops are on hold. It's in the too-hard basket for them at the moment."

"It just puts you in limbo because you don't know what to do. I'd like to move the business if I could. You'd like an option if you're going to have your whole neighbourhood disappear around you."

As for the future, Ian and Jennifer are not waiting, they are already thinking that there are not any options, so they are rebuilding.

"We've been doing that since the flood. So, we're rebuilding the accommodation side of it. We're still working on that. We've got this functioning (the laundromat). It's not pretty, but it's functional. We've got the machinery around 95%. The business is pretty much booming, to be honest with you."

"We've always been like that regarding flooding. We just hose it out, clean it out and get it operational. We've had a few hiccups along the way. The second flood just violated us again because, again, it's north, and it comes in higher."

On February 28, 2022, 11 people were rescued from Ian and Jennifer's building, including some dogs.

Across Terania Street, Mark has Winkler Chrome Plating up and running, which instead of the normal 4-week timeframe to clean up and get operational, was more in the 8-month timeframe.

Mark is lucky in the way that his business doesn't rely on local foot or car traffic. Most of his clients are outside of the area. He is waiting on the CSIRO report.

"That's what we're all hanging out for. What have they got planned? There are businesses and people coming back, which is nice to see. It gives you some sort of hope and sort of confidence. I didn't think it would get back to this. After the devastation of that flood and all the stuff on the streets, I thought, that's the end of Lismore. I've got my neighbour doing renovations, so that gives you hope."

When asked if he thought about moving, Mark mentioned his age, which has been a common theme for people considering a buyback or re-building their business, let alone moving one.

"I toyed with it (moving) because I'm 43, so by the time you bought the land and bought the building. I don't think, at 43, I want to go into huge debt. I'll stay put for now because I've probably got another 20 years of good production in me, then I'll start slowing up myself. I suppose if I was younger, I would definitely consider moving."

At the start of the Resilient Homes Program, the main discussion and vision was to get as many high-risk-to-life people out of their homes and living in flood-free areas. When that does occur, local businesses will be needed.

Can a local business that has been through an event suffering severe emotional and financial effects afford to move while recovering from February 28, 2022?