Thank you Chair.
One of the key recommendations from Justice de Jersey’s review into the February flood related to Council regularly reviewing its Disaster Management Plan to ensure optimal deployment of relief assistance for the Pullenvale Ward.
Central to that is input from the local community in developing a series of recommendations in relation to what needs to be done if and when we experience a flood in the future.
I’m pleased to report there has been a lot of progress taking place with community led plans in two areas in my Ward – the Karana Downs / Mount Crosby area and the Bellbowrie / Moggill area.
We are very fortunate to have two very active community advocates in both areas who have taken on the task of overseeing the preparation of plans for their respective areas. They are Simone Karandrews at Karana Downs and Mark Kerle at Bellbowrie.
I have been involved in recent weeks discussions Simone and her team, together with Gina Trasy from Council’s Disaster Operations team and representatives of local emergency services.
I want to acknowledge the work of our Disaster Operations team who now appreciate what we experienced in the February flood was different to what occurred in other parts of the city.
Our issue was more about isolation than inundation. While some residents did experience flood waters through their properties and houses, the bigger issue was the creation of four separate islands as a result of our two major roads, Moggill Road and Mt. Crosby Road being cut, meaning about half of my residents were not able to access food and medical supplies for four days.
The community led plans are about ensuring residents themselves are prepared but also that we have strategies in place to address emergency situations in a future weather event.
The local knowledge and experience Simone and Mark have brought to the table through their respective plans has been invaluable to Council, and I want to acknowledge and thank them both and their teams of local volunteers who have put in many hours of their time to ensure we get this right for the future.
Chair, I would also like to acknowledge our State Emergency Service Moggill Group for their part in ensuring our community is prepared for future weather events.
In particular, Group leader, Evan Anderson and members Ray Moxon and Julie Francis.
Ray first approached me some months ago with the idea of convening a community forum where the SES could give local residents important information about what they should do to prepare themselves should the La Nina predictions for this summer come to fruition.
Together with the State Member for Moggill, Dr. Christian Rowan, we booked the Mt. Crosby School Hall for this and such was its success, we agreed we should do likewise at Moggill / Bellbowrie. Again, this forum two weeks ago was well attended.
At both forums, we offered Simone and Mark respectively the opportunity to brief residents on their community led plans and to ask questions.
Chair, I recently attended a forum at Mt. Crosby organised by the Federal Member for Blair, Shayne Neumann who outlined potential grant opportunities for local groups for flood related projects and equipment.
That is something we are keen to explore for the western part of my Ward. And to that extent, I have written to the new Federal Member for Ryan imploring her to investigate accessing the same grants pool for residents in areas she represents.
Chair, as we know, no weather events are ever the same, but I can’t fault the amount of effort that has gone in at both Council officer level and from my community to be as best prepared as we can in future.
And finally, thanks to my colleague, the Infrastructure Chair, Cr. Wines for recognising the importance of Justice de Jersey’s recommendation in relation to the Pullenvale Ward and ensuring the input and advice from my community is being taken seriously.
Thank you.