Expression of Interest - Precinct Plans for Flood Impacted Areas of Lismore

The RHP Home Buyback stream offers voluntary purchase of flood-prone homes in Lismore, with acquired properties rezoned for non-residential use and progressively removed or repurposed.

Project goals

The project presents an opportunity to:

1. Co-design future uses of RHP buyback land with partners and stakeholders to integrate future uses with the surroundings. This will build on existing engagement with community, key stakeholders and design experts.
2. Plan for and complete rezonings, determine future ownership and management and divest the buyback land in the most efficient and appropriate way.
3. Provide certainty and confidence to the Lismore City Council in relation to financial planning, capital works planning and operational asset management plans.
4. Identify opportunities for ‘meanwhile’ or temporary uses of RHP buyback land together with innovative ownership and management models, that can be developed in the short, medium and long term.
5. Deliver a positive, visual legacy of the RA and RHP program through tangible land use outcomes for RHP buyback land and empower the community to engage with these spaces.
6. Ensure alignment between future land use strategy, implementation and outcomes.
7. Foster collaboration and continuous improvement by supporting lessons management and proactive knowledge and information sharing, including informing state-wide policy development through lessons learnt.
8. Address Flood Inquiry recommendation 20 "Floodplains as Asset”.

Scope

Due to the complexity of the project, a multi-disciplinary consultant team is required. The team should demonstrate expertise in community and stakeholder engagement, including First Nations engagement and application of the NSW Connecting with Country Framework. Skills in urban design, master planning, placemaking, landscape architecture, and land use planning (including rezoning and development controls) are essential. The team should also have experience in designing for risk and resilience, land ownership and tenure options, property economics, risk management, insurance, cost estimation, and cost-benefit analysis.

Knowledge of financing options for public sector projects is also desirable. In addition, the team must understand the design and management of engineering assets such as roads, sewerage, water supply, and electricity, particularly in the context of depopulated buyback areas where service decommissioning may be considered. Familiarity with floodplain risk management is critical, including the ability to interpret and incorporate flood data from Council systems and reports. The consultant team will be expected to integrate these diverse disciplines to inform future land use planning for flood-affected areas.

Related files

• Invitation Letter Precinct Plans for Flood Impacted Areas of Lismore.pdf (82 KB)