Minutes of the Floodplain Risk Management Advisory Committee held on Tuesday 4 February 2020.

 

PRESENT

Councillor Greg Conkey OAM              Wagga Wagga City Council

Councillor Vanessa Keenan                Wagga Wagga City Council

Councillor Rod Kendall                         Wagga Wagga City Council

Jenny Rolfe                                             Community Member

Ros Prangnell                                        Community Member

Patricia Murray                                       Community Member

Brian Mahony                                         Community Member

 

 

IN ATTENDANCE

 

Peter Thompson                                    General Manager (WWCC)

Barry Griffiths                                         State Emergency Service (SES)

Craig Ronan                                           State Emergency Service (SES)

Steve Manwaring                                   Department Planning, Industry & Environment

Caroline Angel                                       Director Commercial Operations

Mark Gardiner                                        Manager Environment & City Compliance

Peter Ross                                              Manager Technical and Strategy

Daryl Woods                                           Manager Council Businesses

Sam Robins                                            Town Planner

Andrew Mason                                       Project Manager

Peter Garland                                         Senior Engineer - Strategy

Amir Abbasnia                                        Design Engineer – Sewer & Stormwater

Michael Casey                                        Communications and Engagement Coordinator

Ange Little                                               Business Support – Operations

Jessica Lawlor                                        Business Support – Operations

Nigel Rajaratnam                                   Centre for International Economics                                      

 

APOLOGIES

Janice Summerhayes                          Director Community Service

Sylvester Otieno                                     Manager Operations

Rup Shah                                                Manager Project Delivery

Michael Friend                                        Co-opted Community Member

Sue Hardwick                                         Co-opted Community Member

Adriaan Stander                                     Strategic Planning Coordinator

Fiona Ziff                                                 Community Member

 

The meeting of the Floodplain Risk Management Advisory Committee commenced at 8.30am.

Acknowledgement Of Country

I would like to Acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this Land, on which this meeting takes place and to pay my respects to Elders past and present.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chairperson Councillor Keenan introduced Peter Garland, Amir Abbassnia and Nigel Rajaratnam to the Committee. Peter and Amir and new Council staff based in the Sydney Office and Nigel is attending the meeting on behalf of Centre for International Economics, who are undertaking the North Wagga Feasibility Study.

 

Confirmation of Minutes

CM-1         CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES - MEETING HELD 3 DECEMBER 2019

 

Recommendation:

                        On the Motion of R Prangnell and J Woods

That the Minutes of the proceedings of the Floodplain Risk Management Advisory Committee Meeting held on 3 December 2019 be confirmed as a true and accurate record.

 

CARRIED

 

Declarations Of Interest

Nil to declare

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reports from Staff

RP-1          Project Updates

 

Recommendation

That the Committee

a      receive and note the report           

b     schedule a workshop to be held during March 2020 to discuss the draft      MOFFs report (project 1753)

 

Discussion Points

1753 – Major Overland Flow Flood Study

·         Workshop

The workshop is scheduled for 17 March 2020 at 8.30am. The purpose of the workshop is to make sure the Committee are comfortable with the draft report, and identify any gaps, as well as delivery priorities.

Action: provide the Committee with a briefing paper outlining the desired outcomes, and copy of the draft report within a reasonable timeframe before the workshop.

·         Community Engagement for MOFF’s report

-       When the draft report is finalised, consultation to occur with community and specific user groups, eg: Lake Albert.

-       Clear explanations to be provided to the community on the difference between drainage issues and overland flow. Ensure a mechanism is created to capture any drainage concerns and record as customer requests for the Operations team

 

RP-2          Presentation from SES - mapping program

 

Recommendation:

                        On the Motion of R Kendall and R Prangnell

That the committee

a       receive the presentation provided by the SES on their mapping program

 

CARRIED

 

RP-3          CORRESPONDENCE FROM NORTH WAGGA RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

 

Recommendation:

                        On the Motion of J Rolfe and R Kendall

That the Committee

a       receive and note the correspondence received on 25 January 2020 from the North Wagga Residents Association

b       request council staff draft a response addressing the concerns and questions raised in the letter, which will be presented to be provided at the next Floodplain Risk Management Advisory Committee meeting on 7 April 2020.

 

CARRIED

Discussion Points

·         Point 1 in letter - concerns were raised by the Committee regarding the request to provide details of the upstream residents, and their right to have their privacy maintained.

·         Point 2 in letter – Appendix H in the Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan document addresses vegetation

·         Point 3 in letter (SES) – the letter is a good opportunity to commence community consultation, similar to the work done with Uranquinty community.

Action: SES will arrange to meet with North Wagga residents, and provide a verbal update to the Committee. A Council representative to be included in the resident meetings, and minutes / notes taken.

·         Point 6 in letter - discussion around the fact that North Wagga residents have previously been afforded and had the same opportunities to join to committee as other residents in Wagga.

·         The response letter:

-       reiterate that the formal resolved position of Council is not to pursue the 1/100, with potential for other options including 1/20, house raising etc.

-       address the

-       address that North Wagga is part of a whole floodplain issue.

-       the software used for the data is the intellectual property of WMAwater

 

RP-4          FLOODPLAIN RISK MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP REVIEW AND DRAFT TERMS OF REFERENCE

 

Recommendation:

                        On the Motion of J Woods and R Kendall

That the Committee:

a       endorse the current composition of community member representation as outlined in the report

b       endorse the draft Floodplain Risk Management Advisory Committee Terms of Reference with the exception of proposed amendments to

                     i.        clause 5, point (2) include “NSW” State Emergency Service

                    ii.        clause 5, point (2) NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and NSW Department Of Planning which are updated to Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

                  iii.        clause 7, point (1) which is adopted without the final sentence of the draft

                  iv.        clause 9, point (1) which is changed to the ‘bi annual’ election of Mayor

 

CARRIED

 

RP-5          FEASIBILITY STUDY FLOOD MITIGATION, NORTH WAGGA AND CIE REPRESENTATIVE INTRODUCTION

 

Recommendation:

                        On the Motion of J Rolfe and R Prangnell

That the committee

a       receive and note the report

b       note that a representative from CIE is attendance at the meeting to provide an introduction on CIE and the project

 

CARRIED

Discussion Points

·         Nigel Rajaratnam from the Centre for International Economics provided information to the Committee. CIE is a consortium with experts in their field from CIE, Woolcott and WMAwater.

 

·         A schedule for the project will be developed and provided to the Committee. The schedule may need to be adjusted as the project and community engagement is undertaken and develops.

 

·         Community consultation discussion:

-       CIE working to understanding how we can better communicate with the community, ensuring everyone is on the same page

-       Variety of communication methods including 1 on 1 meetings and surveys. Meetings will be held at a location away from North Wagga.

-       Not just looking at the technical impact, but the social impacts as well.

-       Ensure the correct terminology is used eg: 1 in 100

-       Present to the community using more visual and graphical tools

 

 

RP-6          OBSTRUCTIONS ON THE FLOODPLAIN

 

Recommendation:

                        On the Motion of R Prangnell and R Kendall

That the Committee

a       note the resolution at the meeting on 3 December 2019 to hold a workshop following the meeting of 4 February 2020

b       note the changes to the documents provided at the last Committee meeting, where the classification of North Wagga has been amended.

 

CARRIED

Discussion Points

·         Council staff to contact the EPA to obtain approval to move the stockpiles of fill in to the current hole

·         Council to seek a funding source to undertake the recommendations

  

The Floodplain Risk Management Advisory Committee rose at 11am.