Bushfires: communities ‘will never be the same’

Despite residents’ intentions to rebuild, many will be forced to relocate.

Fire-ravaged communities along the NSW south coast will never be the same again, despite residents’ intentions to rebuild.

The bushfires that have devastated large parts of the region will have long-term consequences for affected communities because the cost of staying to rebuild is often higher than anticipated, says Chloe Lucas, a senior academic at the University of Tasmania’s Fire Centre.

“One of the most important things for a community to survive a disaster is a strong sense of social cohesion. And if you lose people who are long-term residents, you lose vital local knowledge and ­social networks. To lose those things leaves a big hole in a communit­y,” Dr Lucas said.

Dr Lucas has conducted research­ into the disaster resilience of Victorian communities impacted by the Black Saturday bushfires, where more than 2000 homes were destroyed in a single afternoon. Her research found most people intended to stay after the fires, but their being under­insured or encountering a shortage of rental properties meant they were often forced to relocate.

The NSW Rural Fire Service has said 1870 homes have been destroyed across the state since the start of the bushfires season late last year.

The mayor of Snowy Valleys Council, James Haye, said he anticipated­ most people in the fire-hit regions of Batlow, Tumut and Tumbarumba planned to rebuild but the decimated local economy could change this.

“We’ve already taken a hit with a loss of tourism. And if families leave because there are no jobs in the softwood industry, that means there are job losses for teachers from the schools,” he said.

Dr Lucas estimated that at least half the owners of lost NSW homes would not have sufficient insurance cover to rebuild in the same location, meaning they would have to take out a second mortgage or leave.

“In a disaster situation, the cost of rebuilding to certain standards is much higher,” she said.

The Insurance Council of Australia has also said a majority of home owners believe they are under­insured. ICA spokesman Campbell Fuller said that as well as people forgetting to update a policy­, and complex product disclosure forms, state taxes deterred home owners from buying approp­riate insurance coverage.

Dr Lucas also said the shortage of rental properties in rural towns would lead to many people being forced to relocate. “After the Black Saturday bushfires, there were no rental properties available in places­ like Kinglake and so people had to move away. Normally they moved closer to Melbourne to be able to get rental properties.”