ABOVE: A file pic of Fairy Hill area. Note: this is not the site chosen for housing.
Richmond Valley Council has welcomed the release of the draft Resilient Lands Strategy by the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation.
The strategy has identified Fairy Hill as a flood-safe housing opportunity.
Council’s general manager Vaughan Macdonald said the Northern Rivers was in the grip of a housing crisis before the floods arrived.
“In the years before the covid pandemic, housing construction had slowed and rentals were already hard to find,” Mr Macdonald said.
“Then came the great exodus from the cities, pushing housing prices higher and availability lower – and then the floods.”
The region is now facing one of its highest rates of homelessness, with the most vulnerable members of our community suffering the most, he said.
“That is why we have been focussing on residential supply in and around Casino as this area can accommodate the main development demand on flood-free land over the next 20 years, allowing for more managed growth in our sensitive coastal and rural areas.”
Mr Macdonald said the council would work with the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation to provide a wide range of dwelling types.
He said new low to medium density housing, affordable housing and housing for seniors would be a focus.
Two sites for new floodproof housing in Kyogle, one in Richmond Valley
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