MINERS Rest residents have lashed out at authorities for “failing to do what they promised” - prevent Miners Rest from flooding again.
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Miners Rest resident Symonette Thomson’s house has been flooded four times in the nine years she has lived in Creek Street.
The 2011 floods caused more than $45,000 of damage to her house – only $16,00 was covered by insurance.
On Thursday night she was surrounding her house with sandbags in preparation for flooding – by Friday morning water was seeping into her garage.
“I’m furious. I never thought this would happen again, every time it rains we keep going under and insurance only covers part of it,” Ms Thomson said.
Miners Rest cattle farmers Joanne and Graeme Hodge have also had enough of flooding.
On Friday their 13 hectare property was so water-logged they had to move their cattle to different paddocks. They too are infuriated by a perceived lack of action.
“They need to act on this. They don’t need to spend more money doing another survey – they need to act on it now,” Mrs Hodge said.
North ward councillor Vicki Coltman acknowledged residents would be concerned about a perceived lack of action, but maintained council was working with catchment management authorities to map the flooding and explore how mitigation should be changed.
A Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning spokesman said regional floodplain management strategies were being developed to address deficiencies in flood management identified by a parliamentary enquiry.
Director of Infrastructure and Environment Terry Demeo said the City of Ballarat had improved drainage in Creek Street, Raglan Street, Sharpes Road, James Court and Douglass Close, and on land immediately north of the township.
“Extensive modelling has been conducted to test the effectiveness of proposed major flood mitigation projects, with the next step being final design and approval,” he said. Staff are on stand-by to respond to flooding.