Lismore rebuild that could see North and South Lismore relocated

Lismore is about to change forever with major plans for relocation and infrastructure set to be fast-tracked as the region recovers from the floods. See the plans.

Lismore City Council has officially revealed its preliminary plans to rebuild the towns that were destroyed by the catastrophic floods in February and March.

North and South Lismore could see land swaps, the CBD will be protected and a new commercial centre might be built to construct ‘armour’ around Lismore’s business community.

Council will conduct a review into the Lismore’s Growth Management Strategy in a discussion paper designed to “agree on the strategic growth in the rebuilding of Lismore”.

The paper is headlined by potential government land swaps from flood plains, investigating the possibility of expanding the industrial precinct in Goonellabah and new medium-density zoning and increased height controls for development in flood-free sites.

The preliminary discussion paper will call for feasibility work to explore a new mixed-use precinct “on the golf course land in East Lismore”.

Lismore City Council general manager John Walker and mayor Steve Krieg.

It builds on the announcement of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation by Premier Dominic Perrottet.

Following feedback from the community, a report with final recommendations will be considered by council and circulated for further comment.

The discussion paper places the mitigation of flood impacts on the CBD and the commitment to “depopulate” vulnerable areas as its main priorities in the short term.

Lismore City Council will advocate for a state and federal government funded land swap arrangement to allow residents to move to higher ground but remain close to existing social networks and jobs.

They will not force people to move with those electing to stay set to be encouraged to invest in house-raising projects.

“New residential land release areas and higher density developments in existing residential areas unconstrained by flooding will need to be accelerated,” the discussion paper says.

Flood water fills Keen Street on March 1, 2022, a day after Lismore was hit by a record flood. Picture: Stuart Cumming.

Council will advocate for a federally funded reinsurance guarantee similar to that announced for North Queensland to provide additional certainty to CBD businesses.

“In the longer term (20-plus years) the building of a new flood-free commercial centre should be undertaken, with planning to commence in the short term,” the paper says.

The news comes before the first NSW Independent Flood Inquiry public meeting occurs at Southern Cross University on Tuesday.

Tee off on proposed study

One part of the new paper that has caught the eye of the business community is the potential development on the golf course at East Lismore.

The discussion paper says that preliminary feasibility, design and planning work will be done to determine whether the site of the Lismore Golf Course could be used as a future mixed-use commercial and residential hub.

The paper says “it is envisaged that a new golf course could be created on residential land that is recommended for a planned retreat and conversion to open space in North and South Lismore”.

Lismore Chamber of Commerce President Ellen Kronen says the key recommendation of the report is a “sticking point”.

“This is a challenging problem, I love the golf club,” she said.

“I can’t imagine larger three or four storey buildings at the golf club.

“I want to see what that looks like. If you will build a new mixed-use precinct this is a real sticking point.”

Ms Kronen welcomes long term planning included in the paper but also highlighted a concern for businesses.

“It needs to be well thought out and well-communicated,” she said.

“The fear is that they say ‘this is happening and you have no choice’, there needs to be consideration of everyone’s situation.

“This is going to be an emotional and difficult conversation for everyone to have”.