There will be opportunities to repair, retrofit, raise or have the Government buy your home if you were impacted by the devastating floods earlier this year under a massive new Australian and NSW Government program announced by Premier Dom Perrottet, PM Anthony Albanese, Clarence Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis and others in Lismore on Friday.

Mr Gulaptis said Northern Rivers communities were faced with a flooding event never seen before in our history earlier this year and the Resilient Homes Program will help those homeowners impacted by the February and March 2022 floods to improve the resilience of homes in high-risk flood areas.

“The support announced is all about making sure we rebuild Northern Rivers communities in a way that not only keeps our communities open but does so in a way that protects homes and protects people’s lives,” Mr Gulaptis said.

“As the Premier said, $800 million is a huge amount of public money, but it is very much about people not politics. We are all in this together and we really appreciate the Commonwealth Government’s contribution.”

The Resilient Homes Program will offer voluntary buybacks to residents located in the Northern Rivers’ most vulnerable areas, where major flooding would pose a catastrophic risk to life.

Alternatively eligible homeowners will be given up to $100,000 for house raising or up to $50,000 for retrofitting in areas where building back better will reduce the impact and damage caused by flooding in the future.

The Nationals in NSW Government will offer eligible homeowners one of the three available measures, based on property assessments, flood impact data, safety risks and potential future flood levels.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said building back better repairs and retrofitting includes placing electrical wiring higher, installing circuit breakers between levels, replacing timber with concrete and building solid walls instead of hollow cavities.

“This program balances the community’s desire to stay together with the need to deliver homes that will be resilient to future flooding and, where necessary, buyback properties to ensure homes are out of harm’s way,” Mr Perrottet said.

The Northern Rivers Resilient Homes Fund will support residential homeowners impacted in the February-March 2022 floods, in the seven Local Government Areas of Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed.

The Resilience Home Program will commence customer outreach from mid-November onwards. Those already engaged in the Flood Property Assessment Program will be contacted automatically. Other homeowners can register their interest in the Program by completing online details here – www.nsw.gov.au/resilient. 

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 2 November 2022.