Options open for Gympie flood protection

Gympie Regional Council must push ahead with plans to protect the town centre from floodwaters despite choosing not to go ahead with a flood levee.

Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience Minister David Crisafulli said the Newman Government stood ready to help but doing nothing to protect a town that had suffered so much in recent years wasn’t an option.

“The Newman Government will not give up on Gympie and it’s up to the Council and the community to work together to put forward projects to help ease the risk of flooding,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“Last year we set aside $5.2 million for flood mitigation works in Gympie, including $2.2 million to upgrade Drummond Drive to Q100 level.

“The remaining $3 million was for initial work on the levee, and despite the recent dry summer, the time to prepare for future floods is now.”

Gympie MP David Gibson said a recent community flood forum hosted by the local newspaper highlighted options the community felt should be considered now that the levee was no longer possible.

“There was clear and overwhelming support to buy back the most flood-prone properties in the CBD and the creation of more parkland and a transit centre,” Mr Gibson said.

“This shows the community hasn’t given up on Gympie either and is willing to explore options to help reduce the impact of flooding.

“This is a unique opportunity to all work together and make the most of the State Government’s willingness to look at infrastructure that will strengthen Gympie’s resilience to natural disasters.”

Mr Crisafulli said the Newman Government was about to embark on the most ambitious infrastructure plan in a generation to protect vulnerable Queensland communities.

“This year we have about $47 million for flood mitigation projects to help turn around years of Labor inaction,” he said.

“I’m calling on all 77 councils to put forward plans to protect their communities and help make Queensland the most disaster resilient state in Australia.”

[ENDS] 26 March 2014

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