Fresh examination of city flood response

THE City of Greater Geelong will soon start a flood modelling project to plan for future flash flooding events.

The city received $250,000 from the federal government’s Disaster Ready Fund this year, and will contribute $270,000 of its own cash to the project.

The city will assess flood points across the municipality with particular focus on a central Geelong catchment, covering Geelong, parts of Newtown and Geelong West, and a south Geelong catchment, which includes suburbs of South Geelong, parts of Newtown, Breakwater and Thompson.

The project aims to provide the city and other management agencies including the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority with guidance on priority drainage and water management upgrades, and updated information on planning controls and emergency management modelling.

It will include a public engagement period for community members to provide their insights and information.

Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said mitigation strategies would become increasingly important as more intense weather became increasingly common.

“As we know, weather patterns are changing and the Geelong region is experiencing more frequent major rain events.

“We need this modelling to help us plan for drainage upgrades where there’s a need identified.”

Deputy mayor Anthony Aitken welcomed the federal government’s financial support.

“Flash flooding is happening with more regularity and there have been some well documented examples across the whole city,” he said.

“It is hoped this project enables us to better understand flash flooding, our drainage assets and help inform future investment.”

A major flooding event in October last year led to hundreds of callouts for help and requests to fix drainage assets from local residents.

Significant damage to the city’s road networks also led to the city postponing normal maintenance for several months to carry out urgent repairs.