Northern NSW flood recovery: Community weighs in on NSW government-led Resilient Homes Program after 2022 disasters

Nearly two years after the worst floods to ever hit northern NSW, there’s two camps when it comes to government-led home buybacks – those praising it and those broken by the program.

Nearly two years after the most devastating floods to ever hit northern NSW, there’s two camps when it comes to government-led home buybacks.

In one, a series of homeowners who say the scheme has been “life-changing”. The other – a collective of disenchanted and “exhausted” residents, who say they given up all hope of receiving help.

The $700 million joint-funded Australian and NSW governments Resilient Homes Program was established in the wake of the February/March 2022 floods to compensate flood-affected homeowners through property buybacks or house-raising and retro-fitting costs.

After the floods, the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC) took the reigns for recovery across the region. The state-appointed agency was absorbed into the NSW Reconstruction Authority (NSWRA) in June.

Lismore on March 31 last year. Picture: Dan Peled/Getty Images

In July, flood victims awaiting help felt “tortured” and left in limbo after the deadly natural disasters.

Neighbours questioned why some were receiving help, but not others, confused by mapping used to determine aid.

The NRRC previously declared 6000 properties would likely be eligible for buybacks, house-raising, or retro-fitting.

Today, the program is prioritising buybacks for 1100 homes across seven local government areas in the Northern Rivers including Byron Bay, Tweed, Ballina, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Lismore, according to supplied data by the NSWRA.

As of December 1, 675 buyback offers have been approved, 466 offers accepted and 203 purchases settled.

The March 2022 flooding. Picture: Cath Piltz

Tweed’s Wayne Watson said he had experienced many floods in more than four decades living in the region.

The 64-year-old said an NRRC buyback offer was “life-changing”.

He accepted a “generous” offer and has moved five minutes away, out of the flood-plain.

The 2022 floods “were enough to push me over the edge”, he said.

Wayne Watson of Tweed is one of those who says the program has been "life-changing" for him. Picture: Supplied.

“The NRRC have given me a life-changing opportunity to rid myself of anxiety,” he said.

“We got smashed in 2017 and again in 2022. The flood-plain I was living on was just not viable.”

Mr Watson said he “felt” for the Lismore community and those “still caught in a difficult situation”.

A Laurel Ave, Lismore resident who did not want to be named was one of the 466 homeowners who readily accepted a buyback.

He said he “had to swim out of the house at 2.30am on the night of the floods”.

His home was a “wreck” and all possessions were lost.

“On the night of the flood, 77 years of my life went right down the toilet,” he said.

He said his offer was “fair” and he was “so exhausted” that he accepted and got out while the offer was on the table.

Flooding at Lismore in March 2022. Picture: Cath Piltz

In July, East Lismore resident and single mum-of-two Carlie Daley shared her heartbreak over being refused a buyback.

Five months on, she tells NewsLocal nothing has changed.

“I wasn’t eligible (in July). And to be honest, I don’t have any energy left in me. I’m exhausted and financially ruined from this,” she said.

She claims one person received a buyback in her street and that home was “already dilapidated prior to the floods”.

“There’s a whole bunch of houses in the street that were not deemed eligible for raises, retrofits or buybacks,” she said.

Lismore’s Carlie Daley was told in July she would receive no help from the government. She’s pictured with her brother Paul. Picture: Mikala Maloney

Ms Daley said East Lismore was the “forgotten suburb” amid the recovery and her home had flooded twice since the 2022 disasters.

“It took me three months to insure this place. I struggled to get it insured even for contents insurance let alone flooding insurance," she said.

The struggling mum says the suburb has ended up looking like a “war-zone”.

“The whole community has been degraded. There’s cars flying up and down the streets at night and empty houses everywhere,” she said.

Ms Daley shows how high the floodwaters reached at her East Lismore home.

Ms Daley says she doesn’t know when another flood will come and that she “desperately wants to get out” with her children, ages 11 and 15.

An NSWRA statement said “delivering a program of this scale takes time”.

“Disasters can’t be fixed overnight or even a year after. Christchurch is still being rebuilt 10 years on,” it read.

“A program of this size needs to be methodical. That’s why the NSW Government is working with people who’ve been prioritised for buybacks because they face the greatest risk in a future flood.”

The organisation said the program has prioritised buybacks “in areas where there is the greatest risk to life in most flood scenarios”.