A year ago, on February 28, Byron Shire and the entire north coast was hit by the worst floods and landslides in living memory.
So – how is future preparedness going?
At a local level, councillors seem fairly tone deaf to the trauma, and want to push ‘affordable housing’ on flood-prone land.
If elected on March 25, NSW Labor say they would prohibit that.
Meanwhile, the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) are still sitting on a flood report for the Northern Rivers, which should have been delivered last December.
Such information is vital, so that Councils can tweak planning instruments, like flood levels for future developments.
And just last week, SMH (Nine) reported that flood warning systems remain inadequate, according to the SES Commissioner. Reporters Catherine Naylor and Heath Gilmore write, ‘More than 50 gauges measuring rainfall and river heights malfunctioned during the flood’.
Despite $15 million being splashed at the DPE by the federal government in August ‘to improve the rainfall and river gauge network across 62 flood-stricken local government areas’, SMH report the work would not be completed until June 2025.
That doesn’t appear very urgent.
Another urgent action is to install a flood pump generator for South Golden Beach.
The pump failed after the power was cut during last year’s flood, and a generator could provide protection from future power failures.
Thankfully, the federal government’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has awarded Council $183,446 to purchase one. When asked if the generator is on its way, Phil Holloway, Director Infrastructure Services, told The Echo, ‘This project was identified as a priority after the floods last year, in consultation with Essential Energy. With confirmation of the funding, Council will now be able to design and procure the equipment. We are expecting it will be installed by December 2023’.
There’s also the Northern Rivers Resilience Initiative, which is a $150 million CSIRO project ‘to understand flood risk factors in the Northern Rivers region of NSW and identify flood mitigation options’.
This includes aeroplane flyovers with LiDAR sensors attached, to ‘collect accurate digital elevation models for the region for hydrodynamic modelling’.
From July 2022 to May 2024, CSIRO say, ‘detailed hydrological modelling’ will be undertaken, along with ‘targeted stakeholder engagement’.
There’s a lot to do – the federal government need to ensure that the communications sector provides robust infrastructure in the age of climate change – we found out last year that they haven’t been.
Meanwhile, a series of flood anniversary events are underway.
This Sunday March 5, a community event will be held at the Stan Robinson Park, at Council’s chambers in Mullum. The event will run from 10am till 2pm, say organisers, and includes a barbecue by SES members. There will also be live music, arts activities, weaving, and the Red Cross DROP – which is an acronym for disaster recovery of people’s stories.
For more information, visit www.byron.nsw.gov.au/flood-anniversary-events.
Hans Lovejoy, editor
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