Thousands of flood-safe home sites near Casino, Brunswick Heads, and Grafton are a step closer, with $12 million on the table to lay the pipes, sewers, and roads that have to go in before a single house can be built.
The money comes through the NSW Reconstruction Authority’s $100 million Resilient Lands Program. It targets water, wastewater, and roads, the basic infrastructure needed to turn unserviced land into ready-to-build home sites.
“People rightly want to see progress, but you cannot build homes without first laying the pipes, securing the water supply, and building the roads,” said Minister for Recovery Janelle Saffin.
“Infrastructure is the key that unlocks housing. Without it, land sits idle.”
Here’s where the money is going:
- Summerland Estate, north of Casino: $7 million for major water and wastewater infrastructure to service up to 1,500 lots near the Richmond Valley Regional Jobs Precinct.
- Saddle Road Precinct, near Brunswick Heads: $3 million to design and build a critical sewer connection to the Brunswick Valley Sewage Treatment Plant, unlocking up to 600 lots.
- Junction Hill, near Grafton: $2 million for a new roundabout at Summerland Way and Malah Road, giving the access needed for future stages of a development that could deliver up to 1,000 lots.
Together, the three sites could deliver up to 3,100 lots.
“This $12 million investment is about breaking through those barriers and getting work moving,” Saffin said.
“By taking on the heavy financial lift of major infrastructure for Casino, Brunswick Heads, and Grafton, and other areas resourced in the Northern Rivers, we are paving the way for thousands of new, flood-safe homes.”
The groundwork has already been done. The authority funded technical investigations and planning at each site, including studies to support rezoning the Saddle Road Precinct, infrastructure investigations and a business case for Summerland Estate, and a transport study for Junction Hill.
“At Saddle Road, Summerland Estate and Junction Hill, the Reconstruction Authority funded technical work to establish the needs of each site,” said NSW Reconstruction Authority CEO Kate Fitzgerald.
“This $12 million investment will deliver the critical enabling infrastructure to help bring new homes closer to construction.”
“Through the Resilient Lands Program, the NSW Reconstruction Authority identifies potential housing sites, addresses the barriers holding them back and finds practical ways to unlock them.”
The new money is on top of $37.5 million already invested through the program, which includes:
- $6 million for a new sewer pump station and rising main at North Arm Road, Murwillumbah
- $7.16 million for enabling infrastructure at North Lismore
- $12.4 million at East Lismore priority sites
“The NSW Reconstruction Authority is taking the same delivery-focused approach across the Northern Rivers, working with councils, government agencies and industry to progress priority sites,” Fitzgerald said.
“Every site is different, and the NSW Reconstruction Authority will work with partners and communities to find the right pathway forward and increase the supply of safer homes across the region.”
Saffin said councils had been at the centre of the program.
“This is exactly what the Resilient Lands Program was for – to find the right land in the right locations and get it ready for housing with Councils being front and centre,” she said.
“This is about giving local families a genuine pathway to stay in the community they love, on safe ground.”
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