An Edgeworth Street property owner has called for Cessnock City Council to be accountable for remedial work for floodplain management in South Cessnock.
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Roma Buddery has owned the property since before the 2007 June long weekend floods and said she fought ‘tooth and nail’ to get improved drainage in front of her house after intense flooding forced the tenant at the time to relocate.
Ms. Buddery received a letter from council in June 2011 regarding the floodplain management process for the Black Creek catchment.
The letter stated that a risk management study was scheduled to start in the 2011/12 financial year and Ms. Buddery said she also received phone calls informing her that a workshop would be imminent.
Ms. Buddery said she heard nothing further except for when she has contacted council about the issue from time to time.
She said while she can see that the council is making an effort, just saying there will be a public exhibition isn’t enough information as obviously residents are worried.
“I think it’s now time council told citizens exactly when this remedial work will commence,” she said.
“It’s been nearly eight years since the flood and basically not much has happened.”
South Cessnock has been impacted by flooding as recently as January 27 this year.
The area has been listed as the next stage of council’s floodplain management program. Council officers will be pursuing government assistance grant funding to carry out works, and hope to present a public exhibition or workshop during 2015.
At last week’s council meeting, Cr. Morgan Campbell moved – as a motion of urgency – that council write to residents of South Cessnock, explaining what council plans to do about flooding issues in that area, and providing a clear timeline of when these things will be done.
“It’s been seven-and-a-half years since the flood forced evacuations in South Cessnock, and if we had the same conditions today, absolutely nothing has been done to prevent this happening again,” Cr. Campbell said.
“The people are entitled to know what we are doing.”
Cr. James Ryan added to Cr. Campbell’s motion that council receive a report on an urgent basis regarding the flooding in South Cessnock, including what actions council has taken, what actions it plans to take and what actions could be taken to ameliorate the flooding impact on South Cessnock.
Cr. Jeff Maybury added that letters should also be sent to residents of flood-affected areas in Weston and Abermain.
Ms. Buddery has also called for regular updates in The Advertiser to keep the public informed on what’s being done.
