URGENT - If your home flooded or you know someone who did please read:
Homes that flood have one of three future pathways.
1. They may be deemed too dangerous to rebuild and rehome a family – this is known as a buy back.
2. They may be able to be raised out of harms way (this also means they can be moved if need be).
3. They may be considered safe enough to rebuild but not liftable so they must be rebuilt using materials and techniques that have been tried and tested to reduce the impact of future flooding.
Since the major flooding across the Northern Rivers NSW in Feb & Mar 2022 the NSW State Government has created the Reconstruction Authority and published detailed resources to assist home owners to understand how our homes can be adapted to be more flood resilient.
Insurers DO NOT have to rebuild flooded homes following these guidelines.... yet. But they have a moral obligation to do whatever they can to support their customers.
Mullum Cares is available to support any flooded resident with a free information call to share the experience of home owners in the Northern Rivers who refused to stand by and let their insurers rebuild their homes using the same materials that failed them. Just contact Sasha on 0422 641 474. Please read the rest of this page for more general information and ask Service NSW for a copy of the Flood Resilient Guideline booklet.
Why is Mullum Cares involved?
Mullum Cares Purpose is to Design & Deliver Projects & Programs that Conserve Resources
“Construction and demolition produces about 44% of Australia’s total waste – about 27 million tonnes a year (Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment & Blue Environment, 2020). Construction waste includes concrete, bricks, plasterboard, metals, timber, glass, plastics, carpet, vegetation, rocks, soil, and sand.”
A flood event is like a mass demolition event
When Mullumbimby and the greater Northern Rivers region experienced a major flood season in the autumn of 2022, Mullum Cares redirected resources to launch a Flood Resilient Rebuild Project.
Information regarding worlds best practice flood resilient rebuild materials and techniques were readily available from the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA). With the generous support of James Davidson, the technical lead architect of the Qld RA, Mullum Cares was able to share this expert information with local residents who were willing and able to investigate rebuilding as an act of preparing for the next major flood.
Mullum Cares mantra = predictable waste is often avoidable waste.
An overview of how we became and remain a support for our region
Set Up a Rebuild Flood Resilient Information Place
- Melbourne Water’s Flood Resilient Guide to Retrofitting Your Home &
- Queensland Reconstruction Authority’s Flood Resilient Building Guidance for Queensland Homes (2019).
Both of these guides were authored by JDA Co. the technical lead architect to the Qld Government and later, the NSW Reonstruction Authority.
Many thanks to our hosts at Shedding Community Workshop for providing this space free of charge.
Commissioned Brenna Quinlan to make visual the main Flood Resilient elements.
Home visits for flooded residents
Organised and live streamed a Tradie Q & A.
Organised a Community Debrief for Residents
Sanctuary Magazine : Issue 60 Featured our work
We designed and delivered Australia's first Flood Resilient focused Sustainable House Day programme of open homes.
An organisation with access to GIVIT
Givit is an incredible charity that exists to be the conduit between donors and recipients. Mullum Cares was granted access to the Givit platform to assist community as Alfred approached. Thankfully the impacts were far less than predicted so we haven’t needed to activate our full community support but we have received a stock of mould killing product and have purchased a fogging machine that will be added to our Library of Stuff and made available for community to borrow at low cost.
If you or anyone you know is struggling to keep mould under control please use the contact form on the Library of Stuff home page to let us know and we will be in touch.
The flood resilient guidelines were created by James Davidson from JDA Co in Brisbane. He headlined an event we organised in June 2022 – 3 months after the major flood.
It was a Tradie Q & A event held and sponsored by the Mullumbimby Leagues Club. Over 60 local tradespeople, home owners and insurance assessors attended. Jean Reneuf from Plan C MC’d the evening a number of senior managers from the Johns Lyng Group also took the stage.
James gives an account of his background and an overview of the work he and his team have undertaken in and around Brisbane rebuilding homes with the intention that they require little more than a hose out after inundation. The NSW Flood Resilient Design Framework is based on the tried and tested work of James and his team.
The evening was filmed and can be viewed on the Zero Emissions Byron youtube channel. Link below.
Tradie Q & A featuring James Davidson
Free Downloadable Posters
“Brenna Quinlan is an illustrator and educator specialising in climate justice, sustainability and permaculture. She lives, works and builds soil on Minang and Bibbulmun Boodjar in South-West Western Australia.” You can see more of Brenna’s amazing work on her website and socials.
Flood Resilient Sustainable House Day
Tours & Talks with Home Owners in Mullumbimby who have rebuilt flood resilient
In February and March 2022, thousands of homes across the Northern Rivers of NSW were inundated with storm and flood waters. 12 months later many of these were still to be rebuilt so Mullum Cares secured funding from the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (later restructured into the NSW Reconstruction Authority) and delivered a Sustainable House Day program. There was still a window of opportunity to increase the number of homes that got rebuilt flood resilient rather than put back like for like.
We inspired home owners and gave them the confidence to make long lasting rebuild choices by organising generous members of our rebuild flood resilient community to open their homes in Mullumbimby and share their stories.
Some of the homes had been retrofitted, others raised out of harm’s way.
One had raised and retrofitted.
