The rollout of a home buyback scheme in the New South Wales’ (NSW’s) flood-prone Northern Rivers is creating additional trauma for victims, Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg says.
Concern for those on the ground has been completely lacking from the program, which last week released mapping significantly reducing the number of homes expected to be initially eligible, Krieg told AAP.
“The maps don’t give any comfort to many thousands of my residents in Lismore, it only creates more confusion and more uncertainty,” Krieg said on June 16.
“These are people that sat on their roofs for eight hours, clutching their children, waiting to be rescued by civilians.”
Only eight households have so far received funding through the scheme announced in October 2022.
Local mayors and MPs said this week it was taking too long for funds to be allocated through the $700 million (US$481 million) Resilient Homes Program, equally funded by the NSW and federal governments.
Premier Chris Minns said on June 16 it was important that homes, particularly in low-lying areas, had access to buyback funds, but “not everybody’s taking them up”.
Krieg said thousands of residents, not just in Lismore but across the region, remained in the dark as to what they are eligible for through the scheme.
The NSW government has made 145 offers out of 1000 properties currently eligible for the buyback, with $90 million (US$61.8 million) of the funding pool committed.
Those 145 offers have been accepted, but in some cases homeowners can opt for a delayed settlement of up to a year if they wished to remain at their property until they find alternative accommodation, according to the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation.
This week, four Northern Rivers state MPs and seven local mayors called on the premier to deliver tranche two of the program to reduce uncertainty for communities still recovering from last year’s devastating floods.
Minns said he was open to expanding the program, but not while first round funding remained on the table.
“I’m more than willing to look at tranche two, but I want to make sure that we’ve spent tranche one first,” Minns said.
More than 6400 households have registered for assistance through the program and Krieg said 17 months on from the disaster, 145 offers for buyback was not enough.
About 1100 applicants in the highest-risk areas were being prioritised for buybacks, the agency said, with another 340 offers to raise or retrofit homes also in the works.
“Homes in all seven LGAs (local government areas) have been prioritised based on the greatest risk to life in most flood scenarios, with the most homes in Lismore prioritised, followed by Tweed,” a spokesman for the program said.
