A damning report from the NSW auditor general has revealed that the state government's $100 million Resilient Lands Program (RLP) has failed to deliver a single home or lot more than three years after the devastating 2022 floods. The program, established in October 2022, was intended to provide land for flood-affected residents to relocate or build new homes. Instead, many residents have taken matters into their own hands, purchasing land privately and relocating their homes without government assistance.
Residents Left Waiting
Liam Bolitho and Rachel Rouse, whose North Lismore home was among more than 4,000 assessed as uninhabitable after the floods, are preparing to cut their house in half and move it to higher ground. They found and bought their own land for about $500,000 after losing faith in the government program.
"When they first announced these programs, we were like, that sounds great, that's what we want," Bolitho said. "We were always asking the Reconstruction Authority, 'hey, when's the land coming up?' After the initial six months, we were like, 'man, these guys don't know what they're doing.'"
Auditor General's Findings
The auditor general's report, released last week, found that the RLP and the $880 million Resilient Homes Program (RHP) were not planned effectively before their rollout, causing significant delays. The RLP has yet to deliver any land, with nine of its 12 sites now due to be completed by the end of this year or during 2027, and the remainder planned for 2028.
The NSW Reconstruction Authority (NSWRA) has been recommended to take action by September to accelerate delivery. NSWRA chief executive Kate Fitzgerald has accepted the findings and will act on the recommendations, but for many residents, the help has come too late.
Residents Forge Their Own Path
Saffron Bond, whose mother is waiting for a lot in North Lismore, is skeptical of the promised timelines. "They're saying June, but we all know when they tell us a date, you add six months," she said. Bond used money from a buyback under the RHP to purchase her own lot and was part of a group that relocated homes to an estate in Nimbin.
"We gave [the NSWRA] more support than they gave us, because they watched what we did and went, 'We can create a template from this,'" Bond said.
Government Response
The NSW government has denied that there was ever a firm commitment of $1.5 billion for 6,000 homes, although that figure was part of a proposal to federal cabinet. Lismore MP and NSW recovery minister Janelle Saffin said the programs were established under the previous government and that "work is already under way" to address the auditor general's findings.
"We understand that responding at speed to this disaster meant that vital upfront planning and governance systems were not where they should have been," Saffin said.
Emotional Toll
Residents describe the period since the floods as more traumatic than the flood itself. Yani Clarke, who relocated her 120-year-old timber home to Modanville, described the feeling as "solastalgia" – distress caused by environmental change to your home. "It's like a homesickness while you're still at home," she said.
Bolitho and Rouse, who had their second child six months after the flood, have tried to teach their children resilience. "The story that we wanted to show, especially our elder daughter, who's just about to turn six, is that sometimes life can throw you mud … and you just have to get through it, and sometimes you have to do it without the help of others," Bolitho said.
