Lismore's Two-Track Flood Recovery Leaves Renters Behind — SkimNews
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- The February 2022 Lismore flood rose to more than 14 metres, killed four people and damaged more than 3,500 buildings beyond repair — making it one of the most expensive natural disaster recoveries in Australian history.
- Northern Rivers Housing told remaining pod village residents they must leave by mid-December (a date revised forward from 21 January without explanation), offering singles $5,000 and families $10,000 with nowhere comparable to go.
- The NSW government has allocated almost $1bn to flood-plain buyback programs, but a May auditor general's report found they had not delivered what was promised — and renter Alison Norris, whose lost home wasn't owner-occupied, received nothing from the scheme.
- On 1 October the state government announced it would release more land for flood-affected residents, with plans for more than 500 new homes via government developer Landcom in East Lismore plus 50 build-to-rent homes expected to be completed next year.
- Long-time resident Paul Paitson, whose locally built hardwood home survived with "not a single piece of timber" needing replacement, is now weighing a second buyback offer — torn because the funds may not buy a comparable place and he fears becoming "a homeless person in a van."
- Bundjalung and Yiman advocate Carlie Aitkinson describes Lismore as "a tale of two cities" — a hopeful, rebuilding town running alongside residents still "deeply affected financially, emotionally and in terms of their safety and sense of belonging," particularly Indigenous people priced onto flood plains.
Why it matters: NSW's nearly $1bn buyback scheme excluded renters entirely, leaving single mothers like Norris dependent on emergency pods now being demolished — even as 500-plus government homes get built next door. The policy effectively chose property owners for protection while the most financially vulnerable flood survivors remain in limbo, and climate experts warn the next disaster will again find those without resources least able to adapt.
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