Is the stormwater drainage system in Bayside, Brunswick Heads heading for a major failure as insufficient infrastructure struggles under the weight of growing demand?
This was the concern expressed by a resident last week, as councillors considered an expansion of lot numbers at an already approved greenfield development at 35 Bayside Way.
During public access at last week’s Byron Shire Council meeting, resident Annie Radermacher called for a moratorium on any further construction of housing at the site after another flooding incident.
‘We need this because of the failure of the existing water drains in Bayside,’ she said.
No funds available
‘I’ve been told by Council’s stormwater department that there are no funds available to upgrade the system. The system, as told to me, is too small, [and] does not meet today’s engineering standards in terms of the construction of stormwater drains.
‘Also, I was told six years ago that the stormwater boxes are too small for the amount of stormwater that we have. There has been no excavation of the stormwater drains, hence the recent flooding of the pod [village] carpark site.
‘I’m just one of the many concerned residents. We have not received any assurances from Council in terms of work being done to upgrade the dysfunctional system.’
The owners of the site at 35 Bayside Way already have permission for a total of 47 lots and were seeking permission to increase this to 49.
Council planning staff recommended that the modification application be approved, stating that it addressed the relevant constraints applying to the site.
They also said the project would ‘provide for much needed housing supply’.
‘The proposed development meets all relevant planning instruments and controls, including the minimum lot size of 450m² for residential lots,’ Council staff said.
‘There are no significant environmental impacts that cannot be managed.’
The planner hired by the developer, Stephen Connolly, further reiterated these findings, and said that it would not ‘in any way exacerbate’ the stormwater problems in Bayside.
‘The stormwater from this development will be discharged more or less immediately into the river system,’ Mr Connolly said.
‘So, after being detained, and the water quality matters addressed, there won’t be any change occurring to the system backing further into the locality. We’re neutral in terms of those aspects.’
But Ms Radermacher disagrees.
‘Unfortunately, where this particular development is going to is closer to the river but it’s still going to go into our stormwater drain,’ she said.
‘Our stormwater drain doesn’t cope now. It’s causing flooding further back up.’
Concerns ignored
Councillors appeared to disregard Ms Radermacher’s concerns. The modification application was approved unanimously.
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