Woodburn supermarket owner Tania Hundy sent the letter below to IndyNR.com. We have printed it as she sent it.
Re: Rebuilding Woodburn’s Supermarket – Three Years On
Three years have passed since the devastating floods of February/March 2022, and Woodburn — once a bustling village in the Lower Richmond — is still without a local supermarket.
While the damaged building was finally demolished, the journey has been long, heartbreaking, and marked by shifting goalposts and broken promises.
Our community was led to believe support was coming.
I worked closely with the Reconstruction Authority for over two years, attending monthly meetings from August 2023, jumping through every hoop, filling out every form, and following every instruction.
Yet, when the time came for the crucial rebuilding grant to be issued, we were denied — not because we didn’t qualify, but on what I believe was a technicality constructed to exclude us.
The grant we were advised to apply for had changing rules throughout the process.
One error — a misprinted ministerial reference in the application — was used against us.
Prior to this, even RA staff had encouraged us to apply for another grant which I believed we were ineligible.
When I expressed concern that I was ineligible, I was urged to apply and email them anyway — and I did. And the system had flagged an error immediately, (as most do when invalid information is entered), and therefore we would have corrected it.
But in the main grant instead, we were quietly disqualified.
A letter from the RA Just before the announcement of the grant — signed by Mal Lanyon — should have been the warning.
It outlined that demolition of the supermarket could jeopardise future funding. But we had no choice.
The building was dangerously unstable and posed a significant risk to the public.
Its demolition revealed the true extent of the damage and validated our decision. Ironically, the Johns Lyng program concluded just as the demolition was finalised — leaving us with no funds and no pathway forward if we had waited.
What followed has been disillusioning.
New RA leadership came in, with some now seeking high-profile roles elsewhere (Mal Lanyon).
A new Minister for Recovery took over (Janelle Saffin) — one who had previously endorsed our business but now seems aligned differently. (IndyNR.com will be asking Ms Saffin and Mr Lanyon to respond to these statements).
Local councillors who dared to ask questions — like councillors Murray and Hayes — were publicly ridiculed.
The response from council in a subsequent meeting was damning: if anyone from Woodburn, Coraki, Broadwater, or Evans Head had concerns, they were to take them up with the RA directly — because Council would no longer advocate for us.
And that seems to be the end of it.
They broke us.
As a result, Woodburn has lost far more than just a supermarket. We have lost:
- Local jobs — At least 15 people are without their former employment, with four more jobs planned before the floods now gone.
- Essential services — Residents now travel out of town for everyday grocery needs, which disproportionately affects our elderly, those without transport, and struggling families.
- Support for other local businesses — Every time someone leaves Woodburn to shop, they take all their business elsewhere.
- Community support — Our IGA had proudly sponsored schools, sporting groups, and events. That support is now gone.
- Residents — People are relocating due to the lack of local work and services, further draining our town’s population and economy.
- Hope — This was more than a shop; it was a symbol that Woodburn could recover. Its loss is yet another emotional and mental blow to a community already pushed to its limits.
To those who said “no one will be left behind,” I ask you now — what happened to Woodburn?
Our community deserves answers, accountability, and most of all, the opportunity to rebuild.
So, my hope is that someone comes along that feels the same way and gets the chance to do what we could not.
Sincerely,
Tania Hundy
Former owner of the Woodburn IGA
Proud resident of the Lower Richmond