East Lismore Pod Village for flood battlers to open | photos, video

Displaced flood victims will soon be able to call the East Lismore Pod Village home. The home units are not what you may think - see the walk-through videos.

Flood impacted residents displaced throughout the state now have another site closer to home that will be opening ‘soon’, according to Resilience NSW.

With around 1000 displaced residents on waiting lists, the new ‘pod village’ at East Lismore will be one of 11 options available.

The site has 52 dwellings and will be able to accommodate up to 200 residents, with one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.

Pods will range from a studio layout through to a three-bedroom unit which can house up to 12 people in a family.

With all the infrastructure in place, the only thing remaining to be built at the Lismore site is onsite administration and security facilities.

Specialist gardens have been constructed and Lipmans building and engineering has overseen the project to ensure the village will be just that, a village community – complete with onsite playgrounds, shared undercover barbecue areas and community areas.

Unlike the shipping container pods at other locations the East Lismore Pod Village is a combination of pods made from modular structures.

Smart, clean and functional - the new Lismore Pod Village. Picture: Cath Piltz

Housing Taskforce director Kristie Clarke said the team is excited to have the East Lismore site come online.

“We’ve also got recreation facilities being created as part of the site, and a children’s playpark, green space and a car park,” she said.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience as the site will be open in the coming weeks.”

Residents will be held to a contract of acceptance as per other temporary pod sites and the units will be administered by North Coast Community Housing – who will maintain and run the facility.

Viewings by potential residents of the Lismore Pod Village will kick off from next week. Picture: Cath Piltz

Ms Clarke said they are hoping to have the site completed by the end of October, with Community Housing already in the process of allocation.

Viewings by potential residents will kick into gear from next week.

“We are wanting to get family’s moved in as quickly as possible,” Ms Clarke said.

“The East Lismore site does have larger pods compared to other sites to accommodate larger families and those with accessibility needs.”

The Lismore Pod Village features stylish and practical features. Picture: Cath Piltz

Murray Saul, NSW Public Works senior project manager, said a lot of thought and planning had gone into the development and design of the East Lismore Pod Village.

“The main thing is to try and optimise the number of dwellings we can have, but still be within a reasonable sort of environment,” Mr Saul said.

Regulations have also guided the pod village layout on things such as the space between units, lighting and access.

“The site is staffed, it will have staff here 24/7,” Mr Saul said.

Lismore Pod Village off Military Road in East Lismore can cater for up to 200 people with one-, two- and three-bedroom units available. Picture: Cath Piltz

“I have had many ‘ghetto’ comments made to me, I think they are from people I believe are misinformed and quite naive about what these things are.

“We have 11 sites across the Northern Rivers, some bigger, some smaller.”

The site is expected to be used for two to three years, and is one of 11 being established in the Northern Rivers region.