Lismore flood rebuild set to cost nearly a billion dollars according to council report

The Premier said he would be “personally responsible” if another flood hit Lismore and no preventive action had been taken. It comes as the cost of the town’s rebuild was revealed

Dominic Perrottet and Anthony Albanese’s governments should be prepared to cough up close to $1 billion to reconstruct Lismore according to a new report released by Lismore City Council on Wednesday.

The council’s ‘Flood Response’ details the bill for the rebuild of the town after the February 28 flood which damaged more than $350 million worth of council assets.

The report comes after Lismore City Council released a preliminary plan to rebuild the town which included potentially relocating North and South Lismore and building a new CBD.

The report says over $150 million worth of damage was caused to roads and bridges with 90 per cent of the 1200 km road network suffering “extensive damage”.

Waste and water infrastructure suffered more than $108 million in damage. Repairing Lismore’s sewerage and treatment facilities alone is estimated to cost $17 million and another $80 million to flood proof the infrastructure.

The work set to be undertaken to fix landslips has already been estimated to cost $90 million.

Lismore Regional Airport, Lismore Regional Gallery and the recycling and recovery plant are among other repairs that require millions of dollars.

Premier Dominic Perrottet says he will be ‘personally responsible’ if the government did not act. Picture NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

It comes as Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Wednesday he would be “personally responsible” if another devastating flood struck Lismore and the government hadn’t acted to stem the damage.

Mr Perrottet also said he’d be open to relocating parts of Lismore if a current inquiry into the horrendous floods found parts of the ravaged town couldn’t be rebuilt.

The Premier said he wanted a “frank” report to come from the current inquiry into the floods being held on the North Coast, which is being headed by former NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller and Independent Planning Commission chair Professor Mary O’Kane.

“I’ve asked (Prof O’Kane) specifically, I don’t want a politically sensitive report. I want a frank report, which gives the government advice on how we can rebuild Lismore in a way that’s more resilient going forward,” he said at The Sydney Morning Herald’s Infrastructure Summit on Wednesday.

When asked if he’d be open to relocating parts of the town if that inquiry found it would be impossible or unsafe to rebuild, the Premier threw his support behind it.

“We absolutely have to,” he said.

“If we have another flood like that in two or three years and we’ve just gone back and done the same thing again … and lives have been lost, well, I would be personally responsible.”

He added the potential reshaping of Lismore would mean it could better withstand floods in the future.

“This is my opportunity, our government’s opportunity to think differently and think outside the box and do things in a way that makes sense,” he said.

“Why don’t we for a moment sit there and say, let’s invest more upfront so that when these events occur time and time again …(we’re not) in a position where we’re putting more and more money in that we could have just put in upfront,” he said.

“We will save money, but most importantly, we’ll save lives.

Lismore City Council General Manager John Walker said the report will be used to lobby state and federal governments for financial assistance to rebuild Lismore better than before.

“The report provides an historical record of what happened during and after the floods and, tells a story that will be useful in understanding of the devastation that occurred,” he said.

Left: Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg with Lismore City Council General manager John Walker. Picture: Cath Piltz.

“It will also assist in lobbying both Federal and State Governments for ongoing funding.”

The report’s initial estimates show that 3000 businesses across Lismore have been affected, impacting over 18,000 jobs and over 1000 agricultural workers.

Nearly 1400 homes have suffered serious damage and 37 have been destroyed completely.

“The impacts on our local infrastructure and community assets have been overwhelming,” the report says.

Thousands of businesses and homes have been damaged in Lismore as the bill for the rebuild nears $1 billion Picture: Dan Peled.

“Lismore City Council owned assets have sustained significant damage. This includes large sections of our roads network, our water and wastewater facilities, our resource recovery centre and key community assets including Lismore Memorial Baths, Lismore City Hall and the Lismore branch of the Richmond Tweed Regional Library.

“It is estimated that the cost to rebuild our community will come close to $1 billion.”

Houses are surrounded by floodwater on March 31, 2022 in Lismore. Picture: Dan Peled.

The report also details more information relating to the impact on residential properties with a major focus on the ongoing housing crisis in the region.

“It is estimated that more than 2000 people have been rendered homeless because of the floods,” the report said.

“Lismore, like many parts of the Northern Rivers region was facing a housing crisis prior to the floods, with a rental vacancy rate of 0.4% and rising house prices making both rentals and home ownership increasingly unaffordable or unavailable.

“Resilience NSW, working with the Department of Planning and the State Housing Taskforce, are accountable for short-and-medium-term housing solutions across Lismore and other affected parts of the Northern Rivers.”

The short-term housing solutions include pod homes that have been set up in Lismore and flood-free zones like Wollongbar and Brunswick Heads.

The report reaffirms Lismore’s long term strategy for housing includes higher density development in flood-free zones.

Originally published as Lismore flood rebuild set to cost nearly a billion dollars according to council report