From devastation to determination – resilience groups plan for future

RESILIENCE groups that formed throughout the Byron Shire in the wake of the 2022 floods are looking for volunteers to help prepare for future natural disasters.

Known as CHUBs (community resilience hubs), the groups are active in areas including Main Arm, South Golden Beach, Wilsons Creek, Federal, Mullumbimby, Bangalow, Minyon (Upper Coopers Creek) and Coorabell.

The volunteer teams include street coordinators whose role involves identifying vulnerable members of the community, such as elderly people and those with a disability, who may need help evacuating in an emergency.

Volunteers are also trained in using communications systems such as portable radios and Starlink satellite services in the event WiFi and mobile networks go down.

“Obviously in the 2022 floods there was a lot of chaos and there were leaders who emerged,” Byron Shire Council community resilience and recovery coordinator Sarah Boulle said.

“I started to engage with some of those people during that time and because these groups started up they have joined the Byron Shire Community Resilience Network,” she said.

“There’s a formal system behind it, even though they are grassroots organisations doing their own thing.”

Council provides support to the CHUBs, which work hand in hand with other organisations, such as the State Emergency Services and Rural Fire Service.

“We’re connected to organisations like the Red Cross, who run preparedness training, and we have given letters of support for these groups to apply for funding for portable radios from the Northern Rivers Community Foundation,” Ms Boulle said.

She said she would like to see more volunteers come forward in certain areas in particular, including Billinudgel, Clunes, Suffolk Park, Broken Head and Byron Bay.

“We’re especially looking for people who want to step up and take a volunteer leadership role,” she said.

People interested in joining, connecting with or starting a local CHUB should email Sarah Boulle at [email protected]