The problem with flooding in and around Hervey Bay is an issue that won’t go away and we’d love to see some action from council, Emma-Kate Currie has the following comment:
I do indeed feel sorry for the residents of Wondonna. Although the question here is ” Do people have any common sense at all?”
When looking to purchase land people must look at the surrounding area and take note of certain key factors that might indicate that it is actually land that may very well flood repeatedly. Anywhere that you see paperbarks indicates swap. Also any water in the area for instance lakes, creeks, canals, or the sea level is your number one warning sign.
It is true that the developers should have planned their developments adequately but at the end of the day, no single development goes ahead without council approval. So it seems it is most definitely the responsibility of the council to make sure people do not purchase land in flood prone areas, and there for must foot the bill to clean it up.
The residents of Hervey Bay are just very lucky that last week’s downpour did not coincide with a 4m summer tide or we all would have been up a creek without a paddle (literally!). This is an ongoing issue for Hervey Bay as I have watched many new developments built in notorious flood spots that I know from childhood.
Now I’m not an engineer, nor qualified in any way, yet it painfully obvious to me which spots are disasters in the making. I just wish the general public had the same level of common sense.
Bringbackstrewth says: Welcome new contributor Emma-Kate Currie and we could not agree with you more. The council needs to address these issues and no longer sweep them under the carpet or come up with the usual “We’ll look into it”
[...] One Hervey Bay resident has been brave enough to openly ask an obvious question about the flooding that I’m sure many local residents have ask themselves. You can read her thoughts over on Bring Back Strewth! [...]
Unfortunately councils the world over are more interested in money than concern for its constituants.
In Maidenhead in the UK thousands of houses were built on a flood plain from the Thames. Just because it hadn’t flooded for a few years people buying assumed it would be ok until – an unusual amount if rain coinsiding with high winter tides; they had water half way up their living room walls. Not once but about 3 years running.
The people who had lived in the area for a long time new about the flooding, and so did the council but the house buyers who were moving into the area a clue.
Incidentally most of the UK has been flood maped now and depending on your postcode and the flood likelyhood your house insurance is evaluated accordinging – that is if you can get insurance!
Hi
can anyone please tell me Which streets in Wondunna Hervey bay are subject to flooding? I am plnning on moving there and cant seem to find out any where.
Thanks
Joanne
Hello Joanne,
I would try asking the local Council for information, as they should have some GIS maps etc and need to know these things for their own work on roads and subdivision requests. Their website is:
http://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au/index.shtml
I would also just google Wondunna in the white pages and phone a couple of random residents for help … the locals are usually the best sources
Hello,
Does anyone have any info on Dundowran Beach and how it has held up in the cyclones off Fraser in the recent years. I am considering purchasing a block there and have concerns about how it would handle storm and tidal surges.
Thanks
Craig
Hi Craig,
Dundowran Beach hasn’t had any problems, but parts ARE very low, but being sand, it does drain well. The potential problem is that if there ever is a tidal surge and properties are flooded, each house has its own sewage treatment plant, and if these flood and overflow, the authorities will FORCE people to evacuate until the spillage is cleared (for health reasons). With somewhere like 1200 properties in the area, that might take some time. Keep in mind also, that these private sewage treatment plants are always situated in the low parts of the property, so they will be the first to flood.
I considered the higher Dundowran and low Toogum areas when I arrived in the Bay, but with talk of rising ocean levels, increased cyclones and future tsunamis & strorm surge activity, I decided on higher ground elsewhere.
The FCCC (then HBCC) did a big disaster relief plan including many good maps of areas likely to be effected by tidal surge or tsunami activity about 1999 or 2000 I recall. I think they still provide this literature and maps which might help you, if they include outer areas like Dundowran? Good luck anyway!
As a previous writer said, the information is there at the council. You just have to know what to ask for. Some of the local surveyors might have some useful info too but they probably want to charge you for it.
Here are a couple of simple [hopefully useful] suggestions to avoid a few problems.
Don’t buy any property near the coast lower than 4 metres above AHD. That is roughly the predicted potential storm surge effect of a major event. A simple way if looking at property is to go onto Google Earth and hold your mouse over properties you are interested in. The “elevation” number at the bottom will tell you all you need to know. Pretty scary when you look at parts of Urangan, Pialba and Dundowran. Be aware that the mouse pointer position could be out by up to 50 or 100 metres in some cases but it is a fair indication [and usually nowhere near that far out].
Also the beach is eroding relatively rapidly in some areas, especially one place at Toogoom where about 15 residents want the ratepayers to pay for a million dollar wall to protect their personal property. So apart from the vertical, the horizontal distance from the beach can also be important. Up to 100 metres from the beach can be potential long term erosion prone zone in some of the surrounding areas of Hervey Bay.
Flooding back from the beach [rainfall flooding as against storm surge flooding] is a bit harder. Get yourself a detailed contour map and learn to understand it. The flat areas around natural tree lines are a dead giveaway of potential flood areas. Check the type of trees. Paperbarks are not a good sign. But with the modification to flow paths from older developments and all the tree clearing and replanting you can never be sure that water wont back up anywhere. Areas like Kawungan may be 25 metres above sea level but much of it is dead flat and water can pool before draining away slowly.
A property that has a fall away from it of over a couple of metres [vertically] with no major slope behind it [don't want to end up downstream of a flood!] is usually a safe bet.
Definitely ask the locals BUT place more emphasis on any of their comments about flooding rather than anyone who says it doesn’t flood. Most people have only been in the same residence less than 5 years in Hervey Bay and really would not know a lot about the long term history of flooding in their area. If you can find an ‘old-timer” ask them. Having your house flooded only once every 10 years is still devastating!
Recent letter to Captain Bligh from us :
Premier Anna Bligh
P.O. Box 15185
City East
QLD 4002
RE: Urgent new amendments needed for the Sustainable Planning Bill
Dear Premier Bligh,
I write to you on behalf of the Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council to bring to your attention some issues our organisation has with the new Sustainable Planning Bill.
The Bill has ignored the detailed submissions put forward by the community and environment sector since 2006 and, in our opinion, is unbalanced and pro development. We refer to the EDO amendments proposed to the Bill and write to you to urgently request that you:
• Remove developer bias in the planning legislation- no developer rights to refuse to supply information
• Include stronger climate change provisions and emission reduction targets to address climate change in the planning legislation
• Require mandatory environmental information for a properly made development application
• Extend minimum periods for public notification/community consultation on development and remove deemed approval of code assessable development
• Give councils broad power to prohibit development.
In the Wide Bay Burnett Region, we continue to watch the adverse impacts that unsustainable and unsuitable development has on our local environment, in particular our coastal environments. As we currently have no statutory legislation in place to prevent such developments from occurring and a series of Local Governments with little power or desire to oppose such applications, we are left with little resources to protect our beautiful environment.
Premier, I urge you to consider these amendments and do everything in your power to make them happen.
In light of the extremely close call the Wide Bay had with cyclone Hamish earlier this year, where the proposed Mariners Cove development could have been submerged by 8 Mts of storme surge , a Sustainable Planning Bill that has the power to prevent unsuitable developments in the tidal and storm surge areas, would be a valuable asset to the Queensland State Government to prevent it and Local Governments from facing litigation from the community, in the event of a Cyclonic or Severe Storm event.
Once again, we urge you to amend the Sustainable Planning Bill to not only protect the precious environment of Queensland but to also protect the people of Queensland from the potential destruction associated with the impacts of climate change on our coastal environments.
This an extract from a speech delivered to the Queensland Conservation Council last week , by Andrew Macnamarra , the very ex member and very very ex Qld environment Minister , should you wish to read the speech in its sustainable entirety , its on my word blog at http://rogercurrie.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/after-the-ball-is-over/
” Just last week the Courier Mail reported Mayor Bob Abbott from the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Mayor Alan Sutherland from Moreton Bay Regional Council opposing plans for further expansion of the urban footprint. They are fighting a tough battle against developers who are engaged in what Diamond calls “rational bad behavior” – that is, pursuing economic self interest at the expense of long term societal good. Companies don’t actually have children to think of in their decision making, just shareholders. Governments are trapped in the ultimate clash of interests. It is the “Tragedy of the Commons” over and over again. Even if it is obvious that our behavior in the long term is disastrous, no one wants to move first for fear that they will miss out on exploiting the commons if others don’t follow suit. In Hervey Bay I once saw Harvey Norman brow beat the Council into an absurd and even dangerous town planning decision, by implying that they might pull up stumps and leave town for somewhere with
weaker town planning principles.
”
I wonder if this occurred while the current ex HB councilors were in situ ?
The answer to Roger Currie’s question is YES.