General News
25 May, 2023
Council makes flood submission
The Pyrenees Shire Council has made a submission to the Victorian Government’s inquiry into the state’s preparedness and response to the October 2022 flood event. At its ordinary meeting last week, councillors noted the terms of reference for...
The Pyrenees Shire Council has made a submission to the Victorian Government’s inquiry into the state’s preparedness and response to the October 2022 flood event.
At its ordinary meeting last week, councillors noted the terms of reference for the parliamentary inquiry and moved to make a submission to it in the wake of last year’s flooding, which significantly impacted the shire.
Council’s submission to the inquiry, as outlined in the report tabled at last week’s meeting, covered geographical issues including the shire’s location in the upper catchment of several river systems, as well as the lack of a dedicated SES presence.
Speaking during the meeting, Pyrenees Shire Council CEO Jim Nolan said while SES from neighbouring shires provided support, the lack of a dedicated SES branch in the shire impacts rapid responses to emergency situations.
“The Pyrenees was significantly impacted in this (flood) event,” he said.
“Certainly the unique characteristics of the geographical area of the Pyrenees makes it more susceptible to flood and storm impacts and with little warning as a result of being at the upper catchment of several river streams.
“The need to respond quickly and with little notice, such as what we had in October 2022, makes our community somewhat more vulnerable and we also don’t have the presence of SES in our shire.
“We’re reliant on council and other measures to be in place to respond appropriately, we did have support from SES in adjoining shires which was very welcome, but we don’t actually have our own SES in the shire.”
In moving that council make the submission, councillor David Clark said it was important it laid out what worked well and what could have worked better in the response, relief and recovery stages.
“I think this is a very positive thing for council to participate in and we’ve got some good stories as well as some not so good stories to tell,” he said.
“In terms of some of the good things we should focus on, I think we should really focus on and reinforce the value of the flood studies we did after the 2010/11 floods and some of the work we did as a result of that which made a difference.”
Councillor Robert Vance noted delays in funding for repairs after the floods had reflected poorly on council.
“I would like to add that funding for replacement bridges, culverts and roads perhaps needs to come through a little quicker than sometimes it does,” he said.
“Council gets a bad name for not repairing roads after floods but it’s beyond our control and the general public may not realise that.”