Lismore Council has new flood portfolio

TO HELP with the restoration work following the 2022 floods, Lismore City Council established a dedicated unit called the Flood Restoration Portfolio.

The council’s executive director of the portfolio, John Hartcher, said the scale of the 2022 flood posed significant challenges for all levels of government that forced them to look at alternative ways to deliver restoration work.

This led to collaboration with local businesses.

“Under this contract, our partner Bennett Constructions, has restored most of council’s building assets, enabling our community to resume their regular lives and engage in cultural and sporting activities again,” Mr Hartcher said.

The council, alongside Transport for NSW and the NSW Reconstruction Authority, is looking for similar collaborative opportunities to repair the road damage caused by 70 landslips throughout the LGA.

“We now have a comprehensive understanding of the scope that will be delivered under this contract,” Mr Hartcher said.

“Our design partner, GHD, is now starting to deliver designs that are ready to be issued for construction.”

The council’s chief operating officer, Brendan Logan, said they were “at the point where we can stop talking about funding and start talking about building.”

“We’ll be actively seeking collaboration with the business community and we will need to draw upon their expertise and experience to execute this project successfully,” Mr Logan said.

The council was seeking collaboration with small and large businesses and it will implement a combination of procurement methods, from one-off tenders to a single managing contract partner.

“These opportunities will be tendered through our established construction panel contracts as well as approaches to the open market (through VendorPanel). This will ensure all businesses, especially our locals with relevant expertise, can participate.”

The council encouraged businesses to sign up to VendorPanel if they had not already done so at www.lismore.nsw.gov.au/Business/Tenders-and-contracts/Doing-business-with-Council.