Motor homes intended for Lismore residents whose houses were inundated in this month’s floods are lying empty because linen and water sources have not been organised, while housing “pods” promised by the New South Wales government are yet to materialise.
The measures were announced as part of a temporary housing package last week, but three weeks on from the flood, thousands of locals are still living in makeshift conditions, either in evacuation centres, the homes of friends and families, paid accommodation and repurposed recreation camps.
More than 3,600 homes across the NSW northern rivers have been deemed uninhabitable due to floods by State Emergency Services assessors, and the premier, Dominic Perrottet, has said recovery could take years.
Last Thursday, the NSW government announced a $285m temporary housing support package – half funded by the commonwealth – for 25,000 flood-affected residents, of which $248m will be spent on providing 16 weeks of rental support.
The package included several measures designed to provide accommodation for residents facing months without permanent housing, including a $10m initiative to deliver 120 motor homes, to be split between Casino, Lismore and Ballina.
On Wednesday, 40 motor homes arrived at the Lismore Centra Tourist Park. However, as of Thursday afternoon, when Guardian Australia visited the park, the mobile homes were sitting empty.
A source familiar with the rollout of the mobile homes said flood-affected residents had been unable to check into the mobile homes because linen and a water source for the homes had yet to be organised. It was expected people would be able to move in from Friday.
Most of the mobile homes seen in Lismore were modestly sized, featuring a kitchenette and dining area that converted into a bed, and did not appear to be able to accommodate more than two people.
It is understood that 40 mobile homes destined for Ballina will not arrive until next week, but the first 40 have been delivered to Casino and it is understood almost all are now occupied.
The NSW government also said it would spend $20m on temporary housing “pods” – shipping container-style structures delivered to rural property owners to allow them to stay on their land while rebuilding their home – similar to those delivered to communities affected by the black summer bushfires.
However, a NSW government spokesman said the pods had not yet been procured.
A source familiar with the mobile housing rollout said they had “no idea at all” about the status of the pods.
NSW Labor’s spokesman for emergency services, Jihad Dib, said the rollout of the mobile homes and the pods “is just more evidence that the Perrottet government was completely unprepared for this weather event, in terms of its response and recovery”.
“In addition to our concern [that] this is such a small number, the question to be asked is why some are still vacant,” Dib said.
He said the NSW government “has real questions to answer about whether the number of motor homes and pods will be enough to house the many thousands of people who have lost their homes”.
Labor has been calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the flood response.
Neither the office of Perrottet nor that of the NSW flood recovery minister, Steph Cooke, was able to provide details of how many pods the government was sourcing and when they would be delivered.
A Resilience NSW spokesperson said “a number of people who were in the evacuation centre in Lismore have already been allocated motorhomes in Casino” and that “they are being allocated by the Department of Communities and Justice based on an assessment of urgent need”.
Simon Robinson, who is unable to live in his South Lismore home due to flood damage, said he had heard of the government announcement about mobile homes but had not been able to find out how to be considered for one. He believes it could be months before he can return to living in his house.
“It’s a bit ridiculous to think they are sitting here in Lismore, empty, when you think how desperate some of us are,” Robinson said.
“To be able to have a mobile home would give you a base to be secure, and that’s significant for someone like me, as I don’t even have a suitcase right now, I’m living out of plastic bags of donated clothes.”
