By JOLENE OGLE
MORE than a year after first announcing flood works for Tewantin’s Daintree estate, the three tiers of government have united once more to give the project the tick of approval.
Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Wide Bay MP Warren Truss, Noosa MP Glen Elmes and Noosa mayor Noel Playford gathered at the estate to chat with residents about the now complete works.
Over $1.3 million was spent on the flood mitigation works after more than forty homes were flooded in a 2012 deluge, which the council called an “extreme event”.
A long wall has been built along a section of the bushland as part of the project, designed to work with a bund wall to redirect flood waters away from local homes.
A channel at the entry of the estate has been widened to allow for extra water, with the land removed from that zone used to build the bund wall at the rear of the estate.
Residents said they were still worried the new wall and wider channel might not survive a severe weather event this summer but Noosa Council project manager Adam Britton said deep consideration was given to the works prior to starting the project.
“Our priority was to keep the houses flood-free and we’ve achieved that with our modelling,” he said.
Mayor Noel Playford said incorrect prior flood modelling was part of the reason homes were affected in the 2012 weather event.
“Before this development was approved there was flood modelling, but they got it wrong. That’s why there was a problem – they got this badly wrong,” he said.
“But technology is a lot better these days. We can fly aeroplanes over and work out where the catchments are because of the technology that couldn’t be done years ago.
“Sometimes in God we trust, sometimes in hydrologists.”
