The "weight of expectation" is not lost on the boss of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC), David Witherdin, on the eve of this pivotal body beginning operation on July 1.
Behind him is one of Australia's worst flood disasters in history and ahead of him is a multi-billion dollar, transformational re-build, which will radically re-shape how this region looks and operates.
In between, there will be loads of really tough decisions, some which will be no-brainers, and many others that will cut deeply at people's core values and divide opinions.
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Momentum is key for Mr Witherdin as he is conscious residents and business owners are building back right now and the time lapsed since the February and March floods could lead to "collective amnesia".
"Momentum is really critical, we saw after the floods at Grantham and a lot of what happened after the earthquake in Christchurch," he said.
"All the learnings in recovery from natural disasters is the small window of opportunity that you have got.
"You have to embrace that and move forward because the risk is over time that you get this collective amnesia, that this won't happen again, because the sun is shining and everything is getting back to normal.
"The worst possible outcome would be if we did nothing.
"The community is focused right across the state, from the premier down, even nationally and internationally people are looking at the Northern Rivers and way forward here.
"No one has ever experienced the scale of what happened here and there is an opportunity to develop a model on how to recover and reconstruct and get ahead of what will surely be another event."
Land swaps, buy backs and house raising will all be "on the table".
And since the establishment of the NRRC was announced six or seven weeks ago, Mr Witherdin hasn't let the grass grow under his feet.
He's been at flood forums and meetings, formed close ties with the seven councils he's trying to help out, taken learnings from the Queensland Reconstruction Authority and set up his operational back room.
In that period, 3,500 people have registered under the Flood Property Assessment Program to have their flood-hit properties inspected and 1,300 reports have been issued as a result.
"July 1 is officially when we get underway, but since the creation of the corporation was announced on April 19 things for me have absolutely been flat out. My days are very, very long and my weeks go by quickly," he said.
"The next six months there is a lot of hard work to be done and it will be quite challenging until we establish a good operating rhythm right across the region.
"The most complex of challenges is around Lismore and once we get that ongoing recovery and reconstruction pathway established there is going to be some very heavy lifting. Every day is critical."
Mr Witherdin is comfortable that in the intervening period between when the NRRC was announced, and when it finally gets up and running, people in flood prone areas of Lismore and businesses in the CBD have re-built and re-opened.
"Given the enormity of this event, it is the biggest flooding disaster ever in Australia, everybody does their best to move forward on a no regrets basis," he said.
"We have done our best to give people access to emergency accommodation and temporary accommodation for the next couple of years, but I understand that people want to get back into their own homes and within their own community.
"It is important that they can do that safely, and it may ultimately be that they move back home temporarily and be a candidate for land swaps or buy backs down the track and that is fine."
The NRRC will make important decisions about key infrastructure such as schools.
It was revealed last week that Richmond River High was "unsalvageable".
"When it gets to larger community infrastructure, like schools, it is all about them modelling the economical loss and not being able to insure against that loss and at what economic point is it simply not viable to go through these events," he said.
As the July 1 start date for the NRRC draws near, Mr Witherdon said he felt the "weight of expectation" from the community.
"We have an absolute duty to deliver on their behalf," he said.
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
