Stage set for Myer flood trial showdown

A JUDGE-only trial is expected to unfold in 2022 between department store Myer, the owners of the Cat & Fiddle Arcade, and those they claim are responsible for the 2016 Hobart Rivulet collapse that flooded stores and caused damage worth millions of dollars.

Myer’s Liverpool St store opened in November 2015, eight years after it was destroyed by fire, only to be flooded months after the rebuild.

Myer’s Liverpool St basement and the Murray St construction site – where the Icon Complex later opened in 2018 – were flooded and several other shops were damaged.

The parties appeared in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Tuesday, when Associate Justice Stephen Holt was told mediation was in progress, but moves should be made to set down a schedule for a trial without a jury next year.

In their amended statement of claim, Myer and the site owners claimed Hutchinson Builders, engineering firm Gandy & Roberts and excavator Spectran Contracting were negligent in carrying out their work or services.

Myer claims it has suffered loss and damage to the tune of $4.2m, and the owners of the Cat & Fiddle Arcade are seeking damages of $5.2m.

The damages they are claiming for include items such as installing temporary protection, removing debris, damaged stock, costs contributing to repairing the rivulet wall, water sampling costs, debris removal, loss of rent and repairing damage to the arcade.

Each of the defendants have filed defences with the court that deny the allegations.

A further mediation date has been set down for November 3, but a trial for June or July next year is looking likely.

The trial will likely proceed without a jury as it will involve complex scientific information.