Council & Business
7 February, 2025
Deadline for reference group
Carisbrook residents have one week to submit expressions of interest (EOI) to join the Flood Management Advisory Reference Group and the Tender Panel.
The reference group and tender panel will advise council on the updated Flood Management Plan and Flood Study which will guide the next decade of projects and initiatives to protect the Carisbrook community.
The Advisory Reference Group will be made up of three community members one of which will also be on the Tender Panel.
Mile Cosic, Central Goldfields Shire manager project services and asset management, said the advisory group will also include a councillor, relevant council staff and representatives from various agencies.
“The role of the community members on the advisory group is to provide advice to council on key flood management issues, strategies and priorities,” he said.
“The role of the community member on the tender panel will be to ensure that the chosen contractor aligns with the values and needs of the local community in Carisbrook.”
The current EOI process follows development of the Draft Carisbrook Independent Levee Review Implementation Plan to address concerns raised in the Carisbrook Independent Levee Review.
In September last year, Central Goldfields Shire general manager infrastructure, assets and planning Amber Ricks said the draft implementation plan demonstrated council had heard community concerns and was taking action.
“Thank you to the members of the Carisbrook Levee Community Reference Group for their commitment and contribution during the review process,” she said.
However, a member of this earlier reference group, Ian Boucher, is concerned how the Carisbrook community will be represented going forward.
“It does concern me a bit there’s only going to be three [residents] on the one that’s coming forward,” he said.
While it’s unclear exactly how many people from council will be on the advisory group Mr Boucher is worried community representatives might be “railroaded”.
“I hope those three community representatives don’t get shafted,” he said.
Mr Boucher believes what made the last reference group successful was that it wasn’t just driven by the Central Goldfields Shire Council.
The Carisbrook Levee Independent Review Reference Group had 10 community representatives compared to three council staff and two councillors.
“There needs to be somebody that’s had real world experience on what the problem was to start off with. To try and fix the problem, you need to know what it was,” he said.
Mr Boucher warned that personalities and egos can get in the way so, due to fewer community representatives in the reference group, “it’s very important that the correct people are chosen”.
“You’ve really got to put your personalities and egos aside and put the best interests of the Carisbrook community at heart,” he said.
Mr Boucher is less interested in looking backward and instead wants to see the implementation plan completed so Carisbrook residents can “just move on”.
“I’m sure the shire would like to put a line through the whole thing and say ‘look, we’ve completed all that’s been [recommended],” he said.
The Advisory Reference Group and Tender Panel will be formed once EOIs close on February 14.