Grantham residents pick up stumps

GRANTHAM residents are being forced to disassemble and move their homes to the new housing estate themselves, according to a volunteers' group.

GRANTHAM residents are being forced to disassemble and move their homes to the new housing estate themselves, according to a volunteers' group.

Lockyer Valley Flood Recovery Volunteers volunteer manager Cassie Ley said many people had missed out on the second and third rounds of the Premier's flood relief appeal, forcing them to tear down and move their houses themselves.

"The result to the community from the lack of assistance to finance shifting their homes to the Grantham hill, is that a large portion of flood-affected Grantham owners are in the situation of having no option but to disassemble their houses themselves in order to reassemble them on the hill," she said.

"A lot of the hammering you will hear on the weekends is homeowners disassembling their houses down to stacked frames and trusses."

Ms Ley said at discussions with government representatives at public meetings after the floods, many Grantham residents believed their houses would be moved by government funding.

"Unfortunately, after the experiences residents have had with the initial indication of the government shifting the houses to the hill and then the Premiers' Relief Appeal Fund and insurance agencies rejecting so many, Grantham residents don't have their fingers crossed in regards to getting the BSA grant funded also by the Premiers' Relief Appeal funds," she said.

"There are now so many Grantham residents working in Brisbane to raise the funds to buy tools or materials that volunteers can usually only find homeowners on Sundays in Grantham."

The estate's first houses are expected to be in place before Christmas, however the area will be, initially, residential only.

The plans for the redeveloped Grantham will see a business district remaining in the flood-affected areas of the town along the Gatton-Helidon Road.

Lockyer Valley mayor Steve Jones previously said the council priority had been moving residences away from any future floodwater.

"The January flood occurred in the afternoon. If this had happened at night while people slept, we would have had 200 people dead," he said.

"We want to make sure that no-one is sleeping there."

Originally published as Grantham residents pick up stumps