FLOOD STAND-OFF
Residents fear worst if council rejects levee bank call
AN Aitkenvale man whose home was flooded in last year’s deluge has called for a Ross River levee bank to be reinstated to protect scores of homes from riverine flooding.
But Townsville City Council says it has advice, understood to be from infrastructure group AECOM, that reinstating the levee will cause additional flooding to thousands of properties downstream.
Ron Bennett, 83, has lived in Millard Ave for 40 years and recalls the levee bank being removed about 20 years ago to improve views for a housing project. At the time, residents were told the levee was no longer needed because Ross River Dam provided flood mitigation and there would be no more flooding.
But at the peak of last year’s February deluge when the dam’s gates were fully opened and the river broke its banks in several places, water poured in through Thompson St, flooding much of the suburb, including Mr Bennett’s home.
“It was a pretty torrid time.
I couldn’t believe it would come up like it did,” Mr Bennett said.
He didn’t move back into his home until earlier this year but researched the event, finding water came in through the junction of Thompson St and River Parade in an area where the levee once stood.
Remnants of the levee still exist further upstream towards Aplins Weir.
Mr Bennett said Thompson St was the only road in and out for some 50 homes on River Parade and Meadowbrook Drive that, when flooded, created an entrapment, cutting residents off with no way out.
“I find this situation … inconsistent with safety and proper subdivision planning and approval. I feel as though I’m on my own here and that the council is not taking notice,” Mr Bennett said.
After an initial meeting with ward councillor Maurie Soars and council engineer Ashley Astorquia, he said “everything has gone quiet”.
In a statement, Townsville City Council said it was investigating the 2019 flood impacts to properties in the Aitkenvale area but had no current plans to reinstate the levee.
It said the levee was partially removed around 2001 “as part of addressing various development conditions”.
“Independent flood modelling and engineering advice received by council indicates that if the levee was fully reinstated this would cause additional flooding to thousands of properties downstream of Aitkenvale,” the statement said.
“Properties adversely affected by reinstating the levee for an event similar in size to the 2019 monsoon event include many properties on the southern side of the Ross River, including Hermit Park, Rosslea, Annandale, Idalia and Railway Estate.
“This advice has been passed on to the local residents from Aitkenvale who have raised queries about whether the levee should be reinstated. Given the adverse flooding impacts of reinstating the levee, council does not have any current plans to reinstate the levee.”
But another long-time Aitkenvale resident, Gordon Evans, who recalls watching the levee being built in 1946, believes the council has an obligation to fix the issue.
“They didn’t remove that levee bank to prevent flooding downstream, they removed that so people would have a view. The problems downstream would have happened anyway,” Mr Evans said.
“It was a council blunder to remove (the levee) and I think the council has an obligation to do something about it.”
I FIND THIS SITUATION … INCONSISTENT WITH SAFETY AND PROPER SUBDIVISION PLANNING AND APPROVAL. I FEEL AS THOUGH I’M ON MY OWN HERE AND THAT THE COUNCIL IS NOT TAKING NOTICE
RON BENNETT