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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-02-05 Daily Xml
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FLOOD MITIGATION

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (15:03): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about flood mitigation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: In July last year, I asked the minister questions about the Brownhill and Keswick Creek storm mitigation plan, but those questions remain unanswered to date. I remind members that the plan about which I asked envisages cooperation from the councils of Burnside, Unley, West Torrens, Adelaide and Mitcham, and the plans include the construction of a substantial concrete dam in the upper reaches of Brownhill Creek.

Since I asked that question, members of the Mitcham council have raised serious concerns about the process being adopted in relation to the management plan. They have described the project as 'ill conceived', and accordingly the council resolved in January this year to withdraw from the project, as I understand its resolution.

In the meantime, the colourful Mayor of West Torrens, the Hon. John Trainer, has fired some shots in this battle, claiming that it is flood waters rushing through Mitcham that causes substantial flooding in his municipality. My questions to the minister are:

1. Given the fact that the proposed cooperative plan now looks as if it is on the rocks, what steps will the government take, given its professed interest in undertaking stormwater management across the metropolitan area?

2. What steps will the minister take, as Minister for State/Local Government Relations, to bring the parties together to produce a satisfactory outcome to this intractable problem?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:05): Indeed, the five councils have been working for several years towards joint implementation of a stormwater management and flood mitigation plan for the Brownhill and Keswick Creek catchments and the proposed formation of a joint council authority to manage that project. As the honourable member identified, the councils involved are Adelaide, Unley, Mitcham, West Torrens and Burnside.

A memorandum of agreement was reached between the five councils early in 2007, and this has underpinned the ongoing work to develop and agree to a joint catchment plan and to then proceed with the implementation. In July 2008, the Mitcham council withdrew from the memorandum of agreement citing a number of concerns, including aspects of design, cost of proposed work and, I understand, some environmental concerns. The action of the Mitcham council has been criticised by the other councils involved. The mayors of West Torrens and Unley have both been quoted as expressing their disappointment and frustration in relation to the Mitcham council.

A revised memorandum of agreement was then drafted and forwarded for comment to the five councils. The MOA was endorsed and signed by four of the councils (that is, Adelaide, Unley, West Torrens and Burnside) in December 2008. I am advised that the Mitcham council was not prepared to sign the MOA unless two further conditions were included, and those conditions were unacceptable to the other four councils. It is open to the Mitcham council to rejoin the group at any time should it decide to agree with the MOA.

I am advised that the next step for the four councils that have signed the MOA is to move to establish a regional subsidiary, under the provisions of the Local Government Act, to manage the implementation of the stormwater and flood mitigation plan across their council areas. It is expected that a draft charter will be considered by those councils in the near future. If endorsed by the councils, the charter will then be forwarded to me as Minister for State/Local Government Relations for approval, as required by the Local Government Act.

It is certainly hoped that all five councils will be able to work together to proceed with this very significant project for all the communities across this particular catchment area. I continue to encourage the Mitcham council to participate.

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