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Rappville new community hall surrounded by freshly mowed green grass with blue sky above

Heart of the community soars after Black Summer bushfires

Rappville residents are now able to once again look forward to holding community events in the heart of their village, with the recent opening of the new Rappville Community Hall. 

Town’s Recovery from the Black Summer Bushfires and Floods

The construction of the new hall was one of Council’s key priorities in the wake of the devastating bushfire, which tore through Rappville and its surrounds on the night of Tuesday October 8, 2019 destroying the original hall and 10 homes, as well as damaging several others.

The September 2019 Busby’s Flat bushfire burnt almost 50 per cent of the local government area and the local community was then hit again floods in early 2022.

New Community Hall Open for Business

Former Governor General and BizRebuild patron, Sir Peter Cosgrove who was in Rappville to officially open the new hall, spoke to Mirage News of the impacts of the Black Summer bushfires and 2022 Floods on the community.

“I recognise for everyone touched by the bushfires in 2019 and the floods just last year, it has been a long, personal, emotional, and challenging journey to get here,” he said.

As part of the project, Richmond Valley Council purchased Rappville’s St John’s Anglican Church and surrounding land from the Anglican Diocese of Grafton, with Council to retain the church but use a portion of the surrounding land for the new hall.

The hall was constructed by local building company Bennett Robertson builders and designed by award-winning Sydney architect Virginia Kerridge with landscape design by Jane Irwin.

The new facility was designed to not only provide a central community hall, as well as kitchen and entertainment facilities, but also to invite garden areas as accessible green spaces for locals to enjoy on a daily basis.

Richmond Valley Council received critical support toward the project through a bushfire recovery grant from the Australian Government along with the support of BizRebuild, a not-for-profit disaster recovery initiative of the Business Council of Australia.

The Australian Government funding for this community is just one of the ways we support and deliver real impact to help all Australians to recover from and prepare for emergencies and disasters.