Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council addresses top community flood concerns

A forum addressing the Draft Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan was held in Cootamundra by Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council on Tuesday night.

Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council mayor Charlie Sheahan said the meeting was an opportunity for those most impacted by the flooding to interact directly with those developing the plan.

"This was a public forum for the community to get a better understanding of why the report is done and what the requirements under the state act for that are," Mr Sheahan said.

"In the event of the recent floods that we had it was fairly well supported, I think we had 38 residents in attendance and many of those were people who had been directly affected by the flood."

The last flood event in Cootamundra occurred in May earlier this year and some residents whose homes had been flooded out have yet been able to return.

"It was a good presentation and a lot of information was provided by WMA - they're the experts we have engaged to produce the plan," Mr Sheahan said.

"There was a lot of information, particularly around things we can apply for funding for in the future to help alleviate some of the impacts of the flooding that we experience and to provide better protection for our community and the assets."

There will be no complete elimination of flooding in Cootamundra due to the town being built on floodplains, but Mr Sheahan said there are some things that can be done to reduce the impacts.

"Unfortunately Cootamundra is built on the floodplains of Muttama Creek, so eliminating flooding altogether is not possible," he said.

"What our long-term vision is, is to provide as best protection to the community as possible.

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"The other important aspect is it provides us with a very valuable tool for future planning and development to ensure we're not adding to the problem and to ensure development is outside of that flood risk."

Mr Sheahan said one point raised at the forum included the amount of money the floods cost a town every year.

"The impact of flooding on the Cootamundra community was worked out at a cost of $1.1 million a year over time," he said.

"When we start looking at infrastructure projects that may happen later on down the track we have to keep it in mind that that's the cost to the community from storms and flooding."

There were also two proposals explored including the development of a retention base at the Cootamundra Turf Club which would reduce the impact on that area during future flood events.

Another proposal was for the development of a drainage system from South East Circle which is a low-lying part of the town.

"All in all it was a pretty good meeting," Mr Sheahan said.

Submissions are now open and will remain open into next week.

After submissions council will adopt the final plan which they can then apply for state funding - and if granted - will be able to go ahead with the suggested works to reduce flooding impacts.

"It's pretty important, it's been a long process," Mr Sheahan said.

"Unfortunately, we had these events just recently but that was also a tool that enabled the people who have developed the plan to actually check the material and study they have come up with and they're pretty happy and satisfied with what they are proposing in that it's quite accurate."

Concerns around vegetation in Muttama Creek were also raised by community members at the forum who believe flooding could be reduced if the vegetation in the creek was dredged.

"There were some concerns raised around vegetation and stuff in the creek," Mr Sheahan said.

"We did hear from a hydrologist who said while dredging that vegetation may give a minimal improvement to flood impacts it isn't something that would give you great bang for your buck."

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