Ipswich residents asked for their views on flood preparation
28 August 2020
Ipswich residents are being asked to shape how the city prepares for future floods. The Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan is the largest flood project undertaken in Ipswich.
A large amount of technical work and modelling, and community input via the Managing Future Floods survey, has progressed to a stage where Ipswich residents can provide input to a number of flood and catchment management topics.
The six topics to be released for public comment from August-October 2020 will be Community Awareness and Resilience, Physical Mitigation, Property Specific Actions, Current/Future Flood Risk, Land Use Planning and Emergency Management.
Mayor Teresa Harding said the complex project was timely and that its numerous components would both increase readiness for future flood events and improve catchment management.
“The new plan goes above and beyond basic flood mitigation and as such will guide council’s action and future investment in everything from land use planning and new infrastructure, through to community awareness and ecosystem health,” she said.
Environment and Sustainability Committee Chair Cr Russell Milligan said waterway health and flood management are closely linked.
“Understanding the whole of the catchment and how a river interacts with the land makes for better results from both flood and waterway health perspectives. Including waterway health as part of a flood project is something new for our region and shows we are serious about improving river management.”
Mayor Harding said components of the Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan dovetailed with the work being undertaken on council’s Waterway Health Strategy, and included considerations for improving the health of the Bremer River.
The Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan is part of council's fulfilment of recommendations from the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry.
This detailed local floodplain management plan is important with Ipswich's high exposure to flood and complex network of waterways. The plan also builds on collaborative work undertaken between councils and State Government on the Brisbane River Strategic Floodplain Management Plan.
Follow the Managing Future Floods page on Shape Your Ipswich to stay up to date with the project.