The 2022 floods devastated the central business district (CBD) of Lismore, the floodwater drowned the CBD with waters reaching 14.4m, significantly higher than the 1954 and 1974 floods of 12.11m and 2017 flood of 11.6m.
How do the residents, businesses and those who rely on the City of Lismore for services look ahead to a future that recognises that future flooding is part of their reality while also rebuilding for a better future for the region?
This is the question that Living Lab Northern Rivers is inviting the Lismore community and beyond to look at answering. They are asking people to join them and actively participate in shaping the future of the Lismore CBD with its ‘Look Ahead: Community design for Lismore’ design process. They are holding two community meetings at Lismore City Bowling Club on Thursday 15 February, at 4.30pm and Saturday 17 February, at 2pm and are inviting people take the opportunity to share their ideas, dreams and needs for the future of the Lismore CBD.
Expert advice
The process combines expert design, planning, engineering, and architectural insights with the lived experiences and future visions of the local community.
‘We’re bringing the absolute best expertise in design, planning, engineering, and architecture from around the country and locally to Lismore to look at all the issues around designing and rebuilding a better, more resilient CBD,’ said Elizabeth Mossop, Academic Director at Living Lab Northern Rivers.
‘Their work will be underpinned by the lived experience and future visions of people living in the Lismore community. This is a rare opportunity to be part of an independent, community-led design process to transform the Lismore CBD.’
The panel includes many of Australia’s best urban design experts, some with family connections to the Northern Rivers region, including Nicole Gurran (University of Sydney), Ben Hendrix (Mecone), Sharon Wright (Hassell Studio), James Davidson (JDA), John Choi (CHROFI) and Jamie Simmonds (Water Technology). Together they’ll explore the ideas that come out of the first community meetings, developing them into specific scenarios that can guide Lismore’s future development. These scenarios will be shared at further community meetings in May.
Highlighting the urgency and necessity of envisioning the future of Lismore Dan Etheridge, Engagement Director at Living Lab said, ‘It’s time to look ahead to the future Lismore with our eyes wide open’.
‘We know that there will be more big rains in the future and our rivers will swell and top their banks. We know that rebuilding our spaces and places the same way as we always have is not going to cut it anymore. But do we know what kind of place we want this to be 20, 40, 60 years from now? How do we steer towards greatness if we have not been able to really envision where it is we want to be?’
Independent of Lismore Council
Living Lab Northern Rivers will be working independently of the Lismore City Council process (which will focus on the entire local government area). However, the outcomes of ‘Look Ahead’ will be an important piece of work for their consideration. Living Lab Northern Rivers’ job is to make sure all the high-level research that it brings to the table is underpinned by lived experience, specifically for the Lismore CBD and surrounding neighbourhoods.
Register
Due to the capacity of the venue, Living Lab Northern Rivers is asking people to register for one of the community meetings via their website at www.llnr.com.au/lookahead.
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