Sub-committee put flood management options through first screening

The flood management options being considered for the Marks Point and Belmont South Local Adaptation Plan were assessed against some basic performance criteria at the second meeting of the Planning for Future Flood Risks sub-committee last Thursday evening.

The criteria came from community concerns, and are: ‘will it work’; ‘will it cause unnecessary or irreversible damage to the environment’: ‘will it allow residents and visitors to continue to enjoy the benefits of living near the lake’; and ‘will the benefits clearly outweigh the costs’.

Manager Integrated Planning Sharon Pope said that she was pleased the group was making progress by narrowing down the list of management options that will work in the study area.

“The work that the sub-committee have put their hands up to do is very complex and assessment of options requires consideration of many sources of information. Narrowing down the options that should be given more detailed consideration is a big step forward for the sub-committee,” Sharon said.

“We started this meeting with thirty-nine management options developed from community input. After reviewing these options based on the first four criteria, we have significantly reduce the number of options that we can continue to screen and investigate,” Sharon concluded.

Options that met the basic criteria include protecting properties by building foreshore levees and sea walls. Options that did not meet the basic
criteria, such as ‘will it work’, was a weir across the entrance, for example.

As well as an initial screening of options, the sub-committee discussed the cost of some options and who will pay that cost, and stormwater issues within the catchment. The wording Council uses to describe how flooding will change as sea level rise occurs was discussed.Council staff gave a commitment to review the use of the terms low and high flood hazard to current and future flood hazards where possible. Council will report their findings back to the sub-committee.

Members of the subcommittee and other residents are planning a field trip around Marks Point and Belmont South later in the month to better understand how the proposed management options may work in the local area. The sub-committee will also continue to consider the options in more detail at future meetings, where they will look more closely at when and where options might be triggered.