Urgent reset looms for Northern Rivers flood recovery

LAST WEEK I called for a reset on how the Resilient Homes program is being rolled out by the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC) across the Northern Rivers – and I now have that commitment.

I’m pleased to report that Premier Chris Minns has now met with me, the other three State MPs from the Northern Rivers and our local mayors. He listened to us, acknowledged the process has not been working for Northern Rivers communities and agrees that a reset is required.

The Premier has directed the Minister for Emergency Services the Hon. Jihad Dib and Minister for Planning the Hon. Paul Scully to visit the Northern Rivers over the next fortnight, meet and report back.

The Federal Government has also said that it is committed to working through any request they receive from the NSW Government regarding tranche 2 for the Resilient Homes program.

There has been confusion, disappointment and anger since the maps were announced by the NRRC. Maps scaled down the 6,000 homes we were led to believe were eligible under the Resilient Homes program, and now we’ve been told that it will only be 2,000 homes all up across the Northern Rivers that will eligible.

We had been told and believed that it would be 6,000 homes eligible for a split of approximately 2,000 buybacks, 2,000 house raises and 2,000 retrofits, as per the following from the NRRC: Resilient Homes Program…(4 November 2022, NRRC website)

“Approximately 6,000 Northern Rivers residents are eligible for Resilient Homes Program assistance. This includes 2,000 residents who will be eligible for voluntary buy backs.”

The Nationals were in Government when the NRRC was set up and have recently been very critical