Council & Business
10 April, 2023
Councillors note progress on flood recovery program
Council welcomed an update on the flood recovery program at the March ordinary council meeting, commending council officers on their efforts, with recovery works likely to cost upwards of $9.8 million. The recovery program is the response to the...
Council welcomed an update on the flood recovery program at the March ordinary council meeting, commending council officers on their efforts, with recovery works likely to cost upwards of $9.8 million.
The recovery program is the response to the flooding events in October 2022 which saw Carisbrook evacuated and many parts of the shire, including roads, inundated with water following heavy rainfall across the state.
At the March meeting councillors unanimously moved a motion to note an update on the flood recovery program — in moving the motion, councillor Anna De Villiers said the work done so far to repair damage “is commendable”.
“As ward councillor for Tullaroop we were probably the most heavily impacted in the shire by the floods in October 2022,” she said.
“I’ve been heavily involved with communicating with constituents within that area and with council officers and I would like to thank the council officers for their efforts.
“The work that’s been done since the floods is commendable.
“We have to remember that the impact of the flood was felt everywhere — most of the roads in the shire were damaged and that damage varied.
“In Carisbrook we had houses flooded and flooding around the reserves next to the creek.
“There are financial and resource implications included in this report and if you look at the overall impact, it’s mindblowing there’s almost $10 million needed to manage the flood event and recovery afterwards.
“It’s incredible the work that’s been done.”
The report to council noted repairs to damaged open space and building assets have commenced — or will in the near future subject to approvals — including repairs to damaged pathways and open space assets along Tullaroop Creek, the toilet block in Carisbrook Creek Reserve, and scheduled creek clearing of Tullaroop Creek.
Some of the key activities to be completed under the road network restoration program include:
• repairs and cleaning of major and minor culvert/bridges
• cleaning and reinstatement of roadside table drains
• gravel resheeting and grading of damaged unsealed roads.
• repairs to sealed roads including reinstatement of potholes, rehabilitation of failed pavement and repair of unsealed shoulders where necessary
• vegetation removal and replacement of damaged signs.
The report also noted council has successfully secured funding for a flood recovery officer position for a period of 12 months to support ongoing community flood recovery efforts. The position will be advertised in the coming weeks.
Council’s overall costs for flood recovery came to just over $9.8 million the report showed, with some funding approved, some submitted for approval, and some with claims still being finalised for submission.
To financially help with recovery, council has made a claim through the National Disaster Financial Assistance, which is currently being reviewed by the Department of Transport. Approval of the claim is estimated to be known in the coming weeks.
Seconding the motion, councillor Wayne Sproull said some of the budgeting is subject to change.
“It’s obviously a massive bill and council have to foot a lot of that to start with, and then go through the process of trying to recoup that through National Disaster Financial Assistance,” he said.
“There’s a list of works and a break down of costs [in the council report], I want to make particular note that the figures listed are current budget estimates and are subject to change pending approval from the appropriate funding agencies. While these are estimates, they can change a little bit.”