Caniaba, Bexhill, Nimbin: five suburbs near Lismore that can house flood victims

The debate about Lismore’s future is raging but the announcement of a reconstruction commission has shed light on suburbs that are primed for development to relocate people. Here are the five suburbs.

The people of Lismore are ready for the government to dig into relocation projects with many saying they would accept offers to move away from flood plains.

Residents of flood affected areas are warming to the idea of relocating after the second flood in a month decimated parts of the town.

While many welcome grants to repair and rebuild their homes they are concerned it could be wasted money if another major flood destroys the town.

Premier Dominic Perrottet announced a reconstruction corporation to rebuild Lismore which includes the power to purchase or subdivide land and expedite development proposals.

However, plans that have been in place since the publication of Lismore City Council’s Growth Management Strategy in 2015, indicate there are suburbs with hectares of land that are still zoned for medium density housing but remain undeveloped.

The suburbs can potentially be expanded and turned into ‘villages’ or ‘rural residential’ housing areas.

The 2015 report established that Lismore was running well behind its targets for housing with the “proportion of multi-dwelling units approved since 2006 being below the target of 40%” by 2031.

Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that over 80 per cent of dwellings in the Lismore Local Government Area (LGA) are individual homes and the majority of them contain three or more bedrooms.

The data also shows that most homes in the Lismore LGA are occupied by one or two people with less than a quarter of homes for residents being units or terraces.

Here are the five suburbs that could be the site of major relocations.

Goonellabah

Goonellabah has an impressive 85 per cent dwelling approval rate in the 10 years to 2013. The suburb also has a solid stock of zoned and serviced land.

South Lismore commercial landlord Donald Mackenzie said he would find rebuilding in Lismore expensive and difficult and labelled Goonellabah as a site that he’d think about relocating to.

“My income is the rental from my commercial places,” he said.

Wayne Nish and Donald Mackenzie standing out the front of the Union Street Barber in South Lismore Picture: Nicholas Rupolo.

“It’s a good idea (to relocate to Goonellabah) if you gave people somewhere outside of town it could work.I know people who have moved up to Goonellabah. I’m still worried about the future of Lismore, there is no easy solution.”

Caniaba

The 2015 report also identified Caniaba as a “zoned Ru5 village” meaning it could be developed into a stand-alone village with a maximum population of 1000.

It also has bulk water supply provided by Rous Water with dozens of hectares of land at the Perradenya Estate available for development.

Carl Mills and his wife Elizabeth made the decision to rebuild after a long period of reflection.

Carl Mills from Casino Street, South Lismore Picture: NCA NewsWire / Danielle Smith.

“I would love to retire at my age and find a beautiful spot in Caniaba, but I’m not sure if it’s realistic,” he said.

“I’ve made the decision to rebuild though.”

Caniaba, since 1997, has been identified as an “ideal location” given its proximity to services.

Bexhill

The north-eastern part of Bexhill is another contender, the picturesque area has potential for medium-density housing to be erected in the short term.

Bexhill has had parts of the village rezoned for development from the Lismore Growth Management Strategy. Picture: Lismore City Council.

The area has been notorious for being difficult to subdivide but reports have indicated that 65 lots of land could be possible under a rural residential subdivision.

Clunes

Just 20 minutes from Lismore and 15 minutes from Bangalow, Clunes is also an option for relocation.

The suburb has a great deal of prime agricultural land meaning the potential for wide ranging development and higher density living might be limited, however it has been consistently identified as a place for rezoning for more homes.

A Lismore City Council development control plan said the north-west of Clunes was viable for village expansion but the chapter identifying potential expansion of Clunes was repealed in a 2020 council meeting.

Terry Goldman has been working at Go Motors in South Lismore for 10 years and says floodplain residents should give some careful thought to relocating.

Terry Goldman has worked in South Lismore for 10 years and says he would take a relocation to Clunes if the government was able to facilitate it. Picture: Nicholas Rupolo.

“If people have been through this they owe it to themselves to think about that,” he said.

“If the government got that in place and said ‘hey we are relocating people to a place like Clunes’, I’d take it.

“I’m not sure if the next flood is going to be as bad but I hope we can retain what’s left of Lismore CBD.”

The population of Clunes, according to the 2016 census, was 868 with 94.5 per cent of dwellings being separate stand-alone houses.

It has also been scoped out as a secluded holiday getaway spot for outsiders.

Nimbin

In the six years from 2015 to 2021, Lismore City Council has approved 129 development applications in and around Nimbin with 50 of them being new dwelling approvals.

Alan Essery was born and bred in the Northern Rivers spending the past seven decades hopping between suburbs like Lindendale and Boree Creek before finishing in Koonorigan and retiring in Alstonville.

He says his time in Koonorigan, a small town between Lismore and Nimbin, shows a lot of promise and people will want to move to the area provided the opportunities are still available in the CBD.

Alan Essery has lived in the Northern Rivers for over seven decades and says Nimbin could be a place where people could relocate to from Lismore. Picture: Nicholas Rupolo.

“I’m not sure if I would at my age but I think people ought to give it a crack, Nimbin has potential,” he said.

“Why spend money rebuilding everything when it could get destroyed again?”

Council believes further expansion of dwellings in the Nimbin area has to be underpinned by an improvement in the water and sewerage systems to cope with demand.

Twenty large lots have been approved in the northern part of the zoned area near Gungas Rd that are undeveloped.