Perrottet toldThe Sydney Morning Herald’s Infrastructure Summit on Wednesday he would feel “personally responsible” if the town faced another deadly flood and the government had not tried to reduce the devastation.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday said building infrastructure to prevent damage caused by future floods would be a challenge.Flavio Brancaleone
It comes as a parliamentary inquiry heard the lives of flood-devastated Northern Rivers residents were being held up by the government’s failure to outline if they could rebuild,be offered land swaps and buybacks or would be able to raise their homes.
Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation chief executive David Witherdin estimated relocating Lismore’s town centre would cost more than $1 billion and take five to eight years.
He told the summit that moving the town of 27,000 people would be “an enormous undertaking”.
“I think in terms of some residential areas right down near the river,a voluntary purchase program should absolutely be on the cards,” Witherdin said.
“In terms of the CBD itself,community sentiment is really strong around retaining it,so I think we’re going to be sensitive to that.”
State and federal governments have been criticised for their handling of the catastrophic floods in NSW and Queensland between February and April which killed nine people in NSW,devastated towns and left thousands of people homeless.
Perrottet told Wednesday’s summit building infrastructure that could prevent damage caused by future floods in Lismore would be “a real challenge”.
He acknowledged the government needed to do more,but said his visits to the devastated town showed him there was “not much you can do in terms of preventing the destruction and damage a flood like that can cause”.
Flood-prone areas of Lismore were among the hardest hit in the disaster.Dan Peled/Getty Images
Perrottet said the government would take advice from its infrastructure teams about flood mitigation methods for the future. But he said there needed to be “a deep appreciation and understanding that these events are occurring more often than they have in the past”.
“Two years ago we had a similar flood. I think now we have an obligation to build Lismore back better.”
The premier said he would be willing to act on any recommendations from the independent inquiry into the flood disaster,led by former police commissioner Mick Fuller and Professor O’Kane,chair of the Independent Planning Commission,to move people from the hardest-hit areas of Lismore.
“We absolutely have to. If we have another flood like that in two or three years,and we’ve just gone back and done the same thing again,I would feel personally responsible,” he said.
Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation chief executive David Witherdin in Lismore,where only a handful of shops have reopened.Natalie Grono
Perrottet committed to making more substantive changes to Lismore to avoid another disaster of that scale from occurring again.
“I’ve seen first-hand ... dealt with many people who have had heartbreaking stories,who have lost everything. And a lot of that has to be attributed to the mistakes of governments in the past,” Perrottet said.
“And I believe that we can do so in a way that works closely with the community to rebuild in a way that preserves our great heritage of those town centres,but at the same time does so in a way that is safe,protects lives and property.”
Tweed Shire mayor Chris Cherry told the parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday the “most important thing” in the aftermath of the disaster was getting people off the flood plain. Cherry called on the government to act urgently,and she said residents wanted to make decisions about their lives now.
The hearing’s third day centred on Murwillumbah. Member for Tweed Geoff Provest told the hearing at the Murwillumbah Services Club that more than 400 people remained in emergency accommodation in his electorate.
Others were living in tents,mouldy damaged houses without walls or couch-surfing. He said the rollout of pod housing and other forms of short-term prefabricated accommodation was too slow.
“I’ve been waiting six weeks or eight weeks on relocatable home announcements or support there and getting told that it keeps going up the line,” he said.
“I’m really concerned about the mental well-being of everyone[affected by the delays].”
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