Meeting summary

Welcome and apologies

The Member for Tweed, Geoff Provest Chaired the meeting and opened with a welcome.

Review of actions

Drainage

Members emphasised the positive impact cleared drains had on reducing Tropical Cyclone Alfred flood damage. The importance of a commitment to ongoing agricultural drain clearing was raised with a discussion on the need for clarification around approvals to treat Acid sulphate soil on properties.

RA confirmed the need for ongoing maintenance of drains – this is being considered as part of the State Disaster Mitigation Plan. RA will share case studies demonstrating the effective mitigation results from the Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program (NRRRP) and the Drainage Reset Program (DR).

The need for funding amendments to support urban drainage works was raised. RA responded that funding to address the impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred (TC Alfred) was available under Category B TC Alfred disaster funding. Additionally, there has been regulatory change to allow councils to request a special variation to shift funds from the waste fund to the general fund. This would also support funds being allocated to urban drainage works.

Northern Rivers Masterplan

The draft Northern Rivers Masterplan scope had been received from CSIRO and will be forwarded to Northern Rivers Mayors following TC Alfred.

Temporary Housing

Mayors raised the question of pod villages being used for social housing. RA advised teams are working on an interim and a longer longer-term solution to utilise the assets, with a focus on joint state and commonwealth funding. An update on Temp Housing will be provided to the April meeting.

Recovery update following Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Recovery Coordinator and NSW Police Superintendent Scott Tanner confirmed the formal handover from Response to Recovery officially commenced Friday 14 March.

Superintendent Tanner and Member for Tweed, Geoff Provest both met with the Cane Growers association to discuss drainage and other impacts from TC Alfred. Mr Tanner will be co-ordinating actions.

A key focus for Superintendent Tanner is to meet with councils across the region this week to discuss impacts and recovery priorities. The main themes emerging from discussions to date are green waste, road network damage, management of evacuation centres including opening hours and/or restocking and beach erosion. Damage assessments to be completed will inform actions and discussions are underway with Transport for NSW (TfNSW) on road matters.

The Gold Coast focus on beach rectification to be completed before April School Holidays was raised and it was proposed that NSW beaches also need consideration, along with the need to dredge rivers to remove impacts from 2022 floods and get past D ratings. RA indicated there is still work ongoing to address pre-existing issues and teams will work with other agencies on this.

The need for river embankment erosion issues was raised and that existing groups would be effective in continuing works started prior to TC Alfred. RA advised funding discussions were underway with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA).

RA also agreed that mitigation works to prevent damage to waterways needs to be part of the Disaster Adaptation Plans. Councils could consider the Disaster Ready Fund Round 3, which is open for submissions until 2 April 2025, and the in-kind matching funding formulas for Councils to utilise.

Reconstruction update

RA Executive Director Reconstruction advised positive outcomes were observed and reported back from completed Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program projects, such as town drainage improvements and flood pump stations. The Drainage Reset Program has also seen positive outcomes with primary producers reporting major improvements post event with the recently completed works, yielding faster recover and minimising impacts on their operations.

RA has created a mechanism for councils to access advance funding to support Emergency Work (EW) and Immediate Restoration Works (IRW), such as clean-up, make safe works etc. This process complements the existing Tripartite funding deeds, which will continue to provide cashflow support to councils for the longer term Essential Public Asset Restoration (EPAR) works. Advance Payments for EW/IRW will be provided via TfNSW, and if councils require this support, they should contact their TfNSW representative along with an early estimate of their EW/IRW work costs

A number of clean-up support programs have been already activated post TC Alfred, including programs that support both private landowners and essential public assets. The Community Relief Program (CRF) has also been announced, which will provide up to $1m to impacted councils to undertake clean-up and make-safe works other assets owned or managed by council that are ineligible for funding in other packages. This program will provide support to assets such as Community Parks, Beach access tracks, playgrounds, waste facilities and other community buildings. Subject to the current impact assessments being prepared by all Councils further support programs may also be activated.

RA has also been working closely with TfNSW and councils to understand any new damage to essential public assets, or re-damage to existing projects currently underway as a result of previous disaster events. The process to assess and work through the most efficient reconstruction pathway will continue over the coming months, and the RA will continue to provide support to both councils and administering agencies (TfNSW and NSW Public Works) in maximising the funding eligibility and efficiency of reconstruction works.

The delivery of Reconstruction Division programs across the Northern Rivers, including the Resilient Lands Program, were briefly affected by TC Alfred impacts and response, with all programs expected to be back to business as usual in the next week.

Northern Rivers Adaption Division Program update 

RA Executive Director Northern Rivers Adaption Division provided details on the progression of the Resilient Homes Program. Management of illegal occupants in properties across the region has been an ongoing issue that the RA have been working closely with NSW Police on. Planning is underway to demolish identified homes with the goal to reuse as much of the materials as possible. RA is also still planning to reuse as many homes as possible through partnerships with other government agencies as well as private relocations. There is a strong pipeline of homeowner’s relocating homes themselves, with 10 moved to date. Around 130 offers were also received, for the the recently closed Home Relocation Expression of interest, to purchase and relocate 31 properties. PRD Northern Rivers is currently contacting the successful applicants to negotiate contracts.

The Northern Rivers DAP (NR DAP) development is continuing a risk profile is being developed of the region and will be validated with Councils, communities and key stakeholders.

Alongside this, we’re collaborating with NEMA and CSIRO so that options tested in the Northern Rivers Resilience Initiative (NRRI) Richmond catchment model will inform further analysis and development of investment pathways under the NR DAP. 

Evacuation routes across all LGAs have been inspected and a prioritisation approach is being developed to identify priority upgrades.

Community flood risk preparedness social research has been completed for the region – encompassing over 1300 people, 12 focus groups and 11 interviews. The findings will inform the design of a targeted flood risk awareness campaign and supporting activities for Northern Rivers communities, being delivered with NSW SES. 

Due to TC Alfred weather event planned RA engagements have been postponed including the Business Beyond Disasters online training program and the Resilient Homes Expos.

RA has engaged Jagun Alliance Aboriginal Corporation to work with Aboriginal communities across the Northern Rivers to develop the Northern Rivers Connecting to Country Framework. This will guide and inform RA's work with the knowledge, cultural diversity, traditions, beliefs, and needs of Aboriginal people. Councillor Dianne Randall, NSW Aboriginal Lands Council, North Coast asked for further information about upcoming engagement with communities. Engagement will continue until May.

General business

A concern was raised regarding education support, with the number of students decreasing since Covid and weather events; the North Coast Community College are providing support to students who have dropped out of school.

Richmond Valley Mayor, Robert Mustow and Chair of Rous County Council mentioned that the Rous budget for maintenance of drains has stayed at the same amount for 40 years and that funding needs to be sought, advising he will seek a meeting with Minister Saffin.

It was noted that funding needs to be part of general business not just in response to major disasters. RA commented that this funding needs to support work at the front end which is what the State Disaster Mitigation Plan addresses.

Meeting close

The Chair thanked all for attendance and noted the April meeting would be re-scheduled to after Easter.