Two recent reports, the Lismore Flood Zone Survey and Outreach Report and the the Resilient Lismore Social Impact Report, have highlighted the need for ongoing community disaster recovery support in Lismore and the wider Northern Rivers region.
Responding to this Resilient Lismore and the Lismore People’s Assembly are collaborating to deliver two empowering grassroots preparedness events.
‘We are holding two events approximately a fortnight apart,’ explained Elly Bird, from Resilient Lismore.
The first event is a community barbeque on Thursday, November 14 at the South Lismore Bowling Club from 6 to 8pm followed by a People’s Assembly event at the Red Dove Cafe on Saturday, November 30 from 1 to 4pm looking at what actions people can take to prepare for the next disaster.
Presentations
At the first community barbecue and information sharing event there will be presentations from Lismore City Council Emergency Management Coordinator, the SES, Resilient Lismore and the People’s Catchment.
‘This will be followed by a barbeque, then we will invite attendees into small group conversations to share their ideas and discuss the question: Are we prepared for the next disaster?’ said Ms Bird.
‘The goal for this two part event is to share information about what is underway to improve information and warnings, and to support individuals, families, neighbourhoods and the broader community to prepare for future disasters by working together.
‘This could look like preparing personal emergency plans; working locally in your neighbourhood; or it might be volunteering with the SES or with Resilient Lismore,’ she said.
People’s Assembly
Having recently held two successful assemblies on the housing crisis the People’s Assembly is looking to build on these events and consider the questions: ‘What are the actions we can take to prepare for the next disaster? What can we do as individuals, as households, and as a community?’
‘We know it can be an uncomfortable topic given what we have lived through, but we do need to talk about it. We have one of the highest disaster risks in Australia and more floods, fires and other disasters are going to come,’ said Lismore People’s Assembly facilitator, Andrew George.
‘We also know there is a lot of experience in dealing with floods in this community, but new people have moved here since 2022 and we need to share that experience and wisdom with them.
‘We will share the outcomes publicly afterwards and we will share them with Lismore City Council and with the NSW Reconstruction Authority as an input to the Northern Rivers Disaster Adaptation Plan,’ he said.
‘We are working together to deliver these events because we know that by bringing the community together to share information, build connections and practice deliberating on solutions we are preparing for future disasters together. By coming together, to have honest and compassionate conversations and share preparedness ideas we can help make our community safer.’
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