Relocating flood ravaged businesses is not an easy decision

As Lismore and Gympie business owners face the mammoth task of cleaning up their flood ravaged premises, there are mixed emotions as to whether it is best to rebuild and start over, amid calls the region’s CBDs should be permanently relocated.

For Aisha and Trev Belling, who own retail pop culture store, Play Back Gympie – which is located in the flood ravaged Mary Street – rebuilding and starting again is their plan.

Play Back Gympie as seen from the outside of shop, showing flood waters in Mary Street. Picture: Play Back Gympie

“We are in a bit of a unique situation. So, at the time of the flood, we actually owned two premises in Mary Street – one of them being right in the middle of everything [and it] was completely destroyed pretty much,” Mrs Belling said.

“And we had just recently moved our main business to a new building, which we were looking at purchasing, which has never been flooded before in the time that it has been built – which was 1974 – and it flooded this time.

“We thought we were moving to an un-floodable building and it wasn’t.”

However, Mrs Belling said she considered herself one of the “lucky ones” as they were now able to start up half of their business because the flooding only measured 30cm in their store.

Flood waters in Mary Street Gympie. Picture: Play Back Gympie

While she could understand calls to relocate the CBD, she could not imagine moving her business away from the flood prone district.

“It’s a really tough one because I do understand it from everyone’s point of view. Personally, I love Mary Street where it is,” she said.

“The buildings here – some of them are too hard to replace. It is all very historical but the main thing is …there are about 250 shops. Now, of that 250 shops, about 100 of them approximately, are prone to flooding, unfortunately those are right in the middle, so removing all those shops and taking them elsewhere makes for a really fractured CBD.

“Where are you going to move them all? Where are you going to find a spot for 250 shops?, Or are you going to remove that flood section and find a spot for 100 shops?”

Not all businesses in Gympie were hit by the 2022 floods. Picture: Getty

Mrs Belling also said they could not afford flood insurance.

“We had all our normal insurances but to get flood insurance in a flood prone area it was much more expensive,” she said.

While the cost of flood insurance was totally out of reach, Mrs Belling said they had a flood plan.

“We just had to have that solid flood plan in place that we knew when it was coming, we knew what to watch for and we would move out before it got there and then it would be the massive clean up after that.

“We worked out that financially we were still better off being in that store with unfortunately the threat of a flood one day and had to be as prepared as we could,” she said.

Gympie Chamber of Commerce president Petra Van Beek said some business owners cannot afford to rebuild and start again.

“Some of the long term Gympians see it as, ‘It is what it is for living in Gympie’,” she said.

“They have accustomed themselves to it. Mind you the haberdashery store, who’s been here for I want to say at least 20 plus years, has decided she is not going to go on.

“The newer shopkeepers who haven’t really been through this are like, ‘Oh my god’ this is not a good spot to be, and one of the real estate agents is definitely moving out of that flood area to a higher ground.”

Ms Van Beek said as an onlooker, who had only lived in Gympie for two and a half years, it did not seem wise to continue to operate a business in a flood risk area.

“If you know it’s going to flood, and scientists tell us these events are going to be more frequent and more severe, it doesn’t make sense to stay in a flood prone area,” she said.

Lismore businesses face tough road

In Lismore, Chamber of Commerce president Ellen Kronen said the CBD, parts of east Lismore and areas to the south and east were under water and likened the area to a war zone.

Grant McPherson removes debris from his flood-affected car mechanic business in Lismore. Picture: Getty

Ms Kronen plans to rebuild her flooded gift store, located in a 100-year-old arcade, but concedes relocating the town’s CBD was a difficult conversation.

“There is an overwhelming number of people who want to return but how [do] we return, and how is it done?” she said.

“After 2017 when we had the biggest flood, really the biggest we had then, it was like, ‘Oh my god this can never happen again’ and it has.

“There is going to be a percentage of businesses who say, ‘Look, I just can’t do this anymore,’ and there are a lot of older business owners who have been there for generations. When you are in your 80s do you want to rebuild a business?

“Some of these business owners have lost their homes as well.”

The road ahead

Looking to the future for these flood affected businesses, Informed City climate change specialist Donovan Burton said businesses would be seeking a future resilient from climate impacts, with many factors to take into consideration.

Debris cleared from local businesses piles up in Lismore as locals get to work rebuilding their town. Picture: Getty

“Their decision [to rebuild] will be driven by the ability to a) get insurance and b) get finance from banks – both parties now are exploring climate risk to their portfolios. Rather than a planned retreat, some local businesses may fold, or go to different towns,” he said.

Rebuilding CBDS with more height was not only the only factor to mitigate future risk, Mr Donovan said.

“Height is one thing – for flood risk – but also can the sites be serviced in the future [waste water, portable water, road networks etc]. There are also other climate hazards that need to be incorporated into town/CBD design like bushfire risk, heat stress. They all affect the viability of regional CBDs,” he said.