Recovery still front of mind: Reconstruction CEO visits central west

The new chief executive officer of the NSW Reconstruction Authority has visited the central west to hear from communities still rebuilding more than three years after the devastating November 2022 floods. Kate Fitzgerald said regional visits had been a priority during her first two months in the role as she meets her team and ensures disaster‑affected communities remain a central focus. “Even though we're several years on from the floods out here, there's still a lot ongoing in relation to the recovery,” Ms Fitzgerald said. During her visit, Ms Fitzgerald was welcomed by Forbes, Cabonne and Parkes councils and met with members of the volunteer‑run Eugowra flood recovery committee, as well as local residents. Some $100 million in funding has been allocated to the central west, with assistance available to individuals through the Resilient Homes Program and to councils for community infrastructure works. “We're getting to towards the tail end of the delivery of the community asset programs that we're invested in,” Ms Fitzgerald said, pointing to projects already under way and nearing completion in Forbes and Eugowra. Across the region, approximately 300 people were supported with emergency housing following the floods through pods or caravans, with a small number of residents still in temporary accommodation. “At a residential level, we're still working with people around their long-term housing options, rebuilding their homes, and also obviously still supporting them through the sort of location of pods on properties and so on,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “So we're really focused on that as well and making sure that people have pathways in relation to their future housing needs.” Applications for the Resilient Homes Program, which provides grants to raise, rebuild, relocate or retrofit homes to improve flood resilience, closed at the end of March. The authority is now assessing the remaining applications. A total of 423 applications were received, with 16 buyback offers made to date and 12 accepted. “We're moving through those home assessments and those applications and identifying the funding to be provided to people,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “We've undertaken 317 home assessments and we're working through the issuing of grants in relation to the program.” Ms Fitzgerald said the Reconstruction Authority was also focused on ensuring lessons learned from flood‑affected communities in the central west informed preparedness, response and recovery for future disasters. She said improving the speed at which programs were delivered, reducing red tape and maintaining a strong focus on vulnerable community members were key priorities. One request raised since the announcement of the resilient homes program was for clearer information about approved resilient materials to be made available to flood‑affected residents earlier and Ms Fitzgerald acknowledged that. “For those people that are able to - have the financial and physical capacity - to get on and do works, it’s really important that they've got the information - and the technical information - to be able to undertake repairs to their homes or their businesses and so on,” Ms Fitzgerald said. Ms Fitzgerald also acknowledged the work of Reconstruction Authority staff who have been working in Central West communities for many months. “That’s really humbling, as the CEO, to know that the people we’ve got on the ground working with councils and communities have the right values … people are able to pick up the phone and feel like they're listened to and things happen. So that makes me feel really proud and know that we've got a great base to work from,” she said. She also wanted to assure the community that Reconstruction remains here to help. “Even though we are several years on from the floods the RA remains in community and connected with council to support people's recovery,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “We have listened and learnt a significant one out over the last several years, and we intend to make sure that as an agency, we are able to apply those learnings to future events. “And that we are continuing to work through the delivery of programs and services here within the communities in the central west.”