ECHO, 5 August 2024:
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People from the Northern Rivers and beyond have been occupying, or squatting in, some of Lismore’s otherwise empty and shut-up flood impacted houses for an unknown period of time.
Some started to speak out in recent months after receiving threats of eviction from the NSW Reconstruction Authority.
The properties in question had been sold back to the government through the RA’s Resilient Homes Program.
But it quickly emerged that former homeowners were often happy to have people living in their old houses and caring for the properties, as were neighbours....
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Last week, some squatters again received eviction notices from the RA and a police visit.
The letters were direct copies of the notices sent in June, including the same issue date of 17 June, House You founder Chels Hood-Withey said.
Lismore-based community group Reclaim Our Recovery issued a statement on Thursday describing police involvement.
‘This morning RA security decided to call police, triggering an attempt at an eviction by officers,’ the statement read.
‘The residents and supporters held their ground for today but police have promised to attend at 9am Friday 2nd to ensure people are out of the house,’ RoR said, referring to 172 Currie St, North Lismore.
‘People who live there, don’t have anywhere else to go, and intend to stay.’
Supporters again rallied around occupiers on Friday, hosting breakfasts at impacted properties.
This time, police didn’t end up coming.....
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Mr Presco said, like Mr Ricketts in June, he was desperate to find out what assistance, if any, existed for people to move bought-back houses from Lismore’s floodplain to higher ground.
‘There’s meant to be houses, land packages, released at below market value in the new land release over at Southern Cross University,’ Mr Presco said, referring to an announcement from the RA earlier this year of new house-lots to be ready by 2026 as part of the Resilient Lands Program.
Mr Presco said it seemed the RA had back-tracked on the inclusion of land for floodplain houses in the land release.....
People were sheltering in the old homes at the end of winter, Mr Presco said, and were quite vulnerable.
They worried about police showing up ‘to drag them out,’ he said, ‘before they potentially get bulldozed’.
‘Turning them into social housing or relocating them seems a bit too difficult for a government agency that’s got a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars,’ Mr Presco said.
‘I don’t understand the absurdity of the situation.’
Speaking from another bought-back home, Roisin McSweeney said she and fellow occupiers had expected police to follow up on threatened evictions but were feeling resilient.
‘We’ve got a lot of support and a bit of a reputation for protecting these homes that we believe need to be lived in,’ Ms McSweeney said.
