This was published 2 years ago
Flood forces Brisbane council to pause projects for ‘biggest-ever rebuild’
By Cloe Read
Several Brisbane projects will be paused as the council prioritises fixing flood damage, with the lord mayor warning under the usual pace “we would be lucky to be finished before the Brisbane 2032 Games”.
About 200 buildings, 100 sports fields and 285 kilometres of roads were affected by the February 2022 flood, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
The council said the damage bill would be up to $330 million, three times more than the cost of the 2011 flood.
As authorities continued to assess damage, the south-east was again hit by intense rainfall, flooding several regions last week.
During the February floods, 7000 households were damaged, with 3600 determined uninhabitable.
Under the council’s re-prioritisation plan, work on two West End green bridges and the Mowbray Park Vision recreational project will be put on hold, the monohull ferry restorations will be scaled back from three to one, and the Downey Park precinct plan will be cancelled.
The floods damaged several bikeways.
Stage 5 of the North Brisbane Bikeway will also be cancelled.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said he wanted to clean up the city as quickly as possible.
He said Brisbane’s largest clean-up would now become Brisbane’s “biggest-ever rebuild”.
“If we took a business-as-usual approach to reconstruction then we would be lucky to be finished before the Brisbane 2032 Games and I’m not prepared to let that happen,” he said.
Pontoons and ferries were damaged during the widespread flooding.
“So we’re going to pause work on additional green bridges, so we can rebuild flood-impacted roads bridges and bikeways.
“We’re going to pause upgrading several parks, so we can rebuild playgrounds, playing fields and sports clubs across Brisbane.
“We’re going to prioritise rebuilding and recovery because that’s what Brisbane residents want.”
Flood-affected assets included 198 buildings on community-leased facilities, 106 sport fields, 74 car parks, 285 kilometres of roads, three bikeways, seven pontoons, 4282 street and bikeway lights, 863 parks, 300 playgrounds, 40 public barbecues, 25 park toilet blocks, 22 public pools and 77 parking meters.
South-east Queensland was forecast to receive more rainfall this weekend, with the potential for further river level rises.
Meanwhile, police on Thursday confirmed they had found the body of a 26-year-old man reported missing from the Ballandean area during recent flooding.
Investigations continue into the reported disappearance of another man in Brisbane.