About

The Black Summer Bushfires had an unprecedented impact on NSW communities, farmers, local businesses, wildlife and bushland.

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About the Black Summer Bushfires

The 2019–20 bushfire season was the worst New South Wales (NSW) has recorded. Higher than average temperatures and low moisture levels in bushfire fuels following several years of drought enabled devastating fires to burn across much of the state, with intense bushfire weather conditions continuing through most of the fire season. Over the course of a few months, 26 lives were lost, 2,448 homes were destroyed and 5.5 million hectares (ha) of land was burnt. The impact on NSW communities, farmers, local businesses, wildlife and bushland was unprecedented.

In Southern NSW, the Badja Forest Road fire destroyed 418 homes, of which 289 were lost in the Bega Valley alone. The community of Cobargo was the hardest hit, with 70 homes lost, five facilities destroyed, 168 outbuildings lost and a further 33 homes damaged. The Cobargo Main Street alone lost over 14 businesses.

Source: Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub.

Image Credit: aerial photography of Cobargo main street Greg Primmer

Aerial photo Cobargo main street post-fire.

About CQBRG

Cobargo Quaama Business Recovery Group Inc. (CQBRG) formed to promote the growth, recovery, resilience and well-being of the local business community, specifically the rebuild of the Cobargo CBD and to support business owners trading post-fires as they navigated the impacts of the Bushfires and Covid-19 pandemic.

Mission Statement

Our organisation’s mission is to support a resilient, vibrant, and sustainable business community for our region.

Our values are:

We believe in a flourishing local economy and community. Our focus is on building back a resilient business community that we can all feel part of and be proud of, now and into the future.

We believe in strength in numbers. We are all in this recovery together. When all voices are heard and efforts are combined, everyone benefits.

We believe in keeping positive, strong, relationships at the centre of getting things done. We are open, accountable, and a safe space for different views and ideas for our community recovery.

We believe in purposeful connections inside and outside the business community. We are a strong voice for businesses to government and others in recovery and building resilience.

“We knew from the get go this was going to be a long haul recovery… We needed a plan for the short term, the intermediate goals and most importantly, the long term ‘big picture’ recovery for our Village and district.”
Shona Taranto, Chairperson CQBRG Inc.

Image : Cobargo east side of main street post-fire. source : unknown

Since its inception in 2020, the group has consulted and worked closely with Local, State and Federal Government at all stages through the bushfire recovery process, including the National Bushfire Recovery Agency (now re-named the National Recovery and Resilience Agency), Resilience NSW, Regional NSW, Non Government Organisations including Australian Business Volunteers, Business Council Australia’s BizRebuild team and pro bono partners TBH Consulting, TAKT Architects and SJB Architects along with other community groups and individual members of the local community.

The CQBRG has provided a number of support opportunities for small businesses through its relationships with key stakeholders. At present, two major projects are underway:

The Cobargo Innovation Hub (Joint funded project by Business Council Australia BizRebuild and Cobargo Co-operative Society Ltd) managed by the CQBRG.
The REBUILD COBARGO project (main street rebuild), the CQBRG Committee spearheading the work of the successful Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund (BLERF) grant funding submission and as a founding member of the Cobargo Community Development Corporation Limited (CCDC).

Learn more

The CQBRG Committee