Findings from community consultation regarding the Brownhill Keswick Creek Draft Stormwater Management Plan have been presented to the five catchment councils involved in the project.
The community consultation report has been compiled by planning firm URPS and highlights responses received from major stakeholders, including local residents, community groups and government agencies.
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Overall, 2,172 members of the community submitted feedback forms, while an additional 29 written submissions were received from individuals and groups, including a petition regarding the proposed flood control dam in Brownhill Creek Recreation Park.
Key findings outlined in the report include:
- Based on analysis of the feedback forms received, 74% of feedback respondents considered an enhanced flood mitigation plan as “important/very important” compared to only 12% who deemed it “not important”;
- Majority backing for the Draft Plan from feedback respondents with 71% indicating support, compared to only 13% opposed;
- Strong support for proposed channel and culvert upgrades, diversions and improvements to planning, community awareness and creek maintenance, with 70% of respondents indicating their support for these initiatives;
- Of the infrastructure measures outlined in the Draft Plan, the flood control dam proposed for Brownhill Creek Recreation Park was opposed by over 4,000 signatures via a petition. Separate to this, of the feedback respondents, 32% were opposed to the dam compared to 60% indicating their support.
Overall, the community consultation report highlights strong feedback for appropriate infrastructure measures to be implemented that adequately reduce the impacts of flooding while delivering acceptable outcomes in terms of financial, environmental and social impacts.
The six-week community consultation period ran from October 31 to December 12 last year and included three open days for the public to ask project consultants questions about the Draft Plan.
Michael Salkeld, Project Director of the Brownhill Keswick Creek Stormwater Project, said the five councils will now review the community consultation report ahead of considering the results of a secondary report due to be concluded shortly by engineering firm WorleyParsons.
“The five catchment councils will review the community consultation report as well as the results of WorleyParsons’ supplementary report into potential variations to the Draft Plan,” said Mr Salkeld.
“They will then consider any suggested revisions to the existing Draft Plan prior to making their formal recommendation to the Stormwater Management Authority for approval.”