Byron Council has called for an urgent meeting with the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC), Council staff and members of local community organisations to clarify the confusion and address the concerns created by the state government’s Resilient Homes program.
The release of the first tranche of the program earlier this month caused widespread consternation in the community as it involved a significant reduction in what was originally promised.
Among the expressions of anger and concern was a submission from the Mullumbimby Resident’s Association, which included an urgent request for a meeting with Byron Council and the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC).
Councillors unanimously supported that demand in a motion at last week’s Council meeting.
Should the meeting go ahead, it would seek to clarify the scheme’s eligibility criteria and how the mapping released by NRRC might be interpreted by individual residents who have applied for support.
There would also be a discussion about the processing of individual requests, including the exceptional circumstances procedure and appeal procedure.
Lowball offers
When asked about the Resilient Homes package status, NSW MP Tamara Smith (Greens) told The Echo, ‘There are a few ways to view the disappointing reality we find ourselves in with the roll out of the Resilient Homes packages’.
‘One is that it’s obvious there is a funding gap for tranche 2 – neither state nor federal governments have officially announced tranche 2 despite intimating they will. The short fall of what is possible with tranche 1 looks to me like a cost blow out rather than a reliance on tranche 2. Secondly, the NRCC and the State Reconstruction Authority are the ones having to sell an implausible notion to the community that flood data has driven the current eligibility list and offers – and the downgrading from what was promised and hoped for.
‘And thirdly, the NSW Premier has told me that the number of people taking buy backs is considerably less than the number of buy backs being offered.
‘My office is starting to support people who have missed out completely in tranche 1, and naturally people are devastated. If there’s money left over because folk are not taking up buy back offers, then surely, we can go back through the lists and help the people that missed out! But meanwhile how long are people expected to wait for that bureaucratic quagmire to be navigated.
‘If people are not accepting buy backs is that because the offers are terrible? $450,000 with no land to go to? Or are there other reasons? Why is it so hard to get transparency through any of it? I continue to raise these issues in parliament and will not give up.’
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