It’s Monday night, Newsroom has just finished and I’m chewing on the end of a pen wondering what to write for this column. I recall sitting at a meeting once, the President quite loudly asking me several times ‘what part of not negotiable don’t you understand’, my response ‘if it is not yet built it’s negotiable’. A Depot Hill flood levee is going, if not already, to be a political hot potato. Is it a waste of ratepayers money, will it work, what impact will it have on other parts of the city if built. There are some simple arguments that may have some currently approving or disapproving of the levee. I initially thought if you build a wall on one side of the river surely it will force flood water to spread further on the other side. Are we therefore potentially solving one problem to cause another! However after reading a Council document on the levee I now have an open mind. Fifty years from now will Rockhampton still be evacuating Depot Hill, have the southern entrance cut at the roundabout or along Gladstone Road, workers living on the south side travelling out to Parkhurst to get on the western by-pass to get to work in the Gracemere Industrial Area unable to overtake due to the constant stream of cars and trucks heading north detouring the city? Yes a major flood is maybe a once in 7 year event, yes it is a lot of money, yes there are other projects the money could be spent on or used to reduce the debt; but that shouldn’t stop us from having an open mind to this idea. After all it is negotiable until it is built. Let’s hear the reasons for, the impacts experts predict, invite the public to information sessions at Port Curtis, Depot Hill, Stapleton Park, Bouldercombe, etc., and use the internet to list responses to the FAQ’s and allow for other questions to be asked. There’s a fantastic app called BOXTCODE, the Rockhampton Grammar School is using to help promote their production of Singing in the Rain (see front page) that would be ideal for the Council to distribute information and get feedback with. This is an issue that deserves thorough consideration before conclusions are made.
Flood Levee
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