Brisbane residents at flood risk may get $50,000 from council

A $12 million flood resilient home program will give hundreds of Brisbane households thousands of dollars to help flood-proof their homes.

Lord mayor Graham Quirk announced on Tuesday that $100 million would be spent on flood mitigation and resilience measures in the 2018-19 Brisbane City Council budget.

Castlemaine Street in the Brisbane suburb of Milton on January 12, 2011.Credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Brisbane was impacted by major flooding events in 1893, 1974 and 2011, but there has also been localised flooding across the city following intense duration of rainfall.

The $12 million cash-grant program would be delivered over four years and would be available to 220 residents in Rosalie and Inala North in the 2018-19 financial year.

These residents would have access to information about how to reduce their flood risk as well as up to $50,000 in flood-resilient retrofit upgrades for eligible properties.

The two-part scheme would start with households receiving a free in-home professional flood-risk assessment and the owners can then take advantage of up to $50,000 of flood-resilience upgrades from the council.

When asked if it was appropriate for ratepayers to subsidise flood-proofing measures for people who purchased in a flood zone Cr Quirk said it was.

"We spend significant sums of money undertaking drainage pipes in the ground, that's all covered by ratepayers in this city.

"This is in addition to other programs that we have and I think it absolutely is appropriate in these circumstances."

"These are areas where often pipes will simply not work because they can't provide the immunity or there is a very small number of people benefiting from significant expenditures."

Suncorp Group senior manager Joshua Kooney endorsed the initiative.

"It could lead to a good hip-pocket benefit, it's win-win for everybody," he said.

"It works to reduce the level of damage in a flood event so could potentially lead to reduced flood claims in these areas."

Insurance Council of Australia policy risk and disaster general manager Karl Sullivan said lowering the risk over time meant a lower level of claims, which meant lower premiums.

Each financial year the council will name new precincts to benefit from the resilience home program.

The millions budgeted would also fund the construction of 30 new storm-water drainage pipes, a household flood-resilience incentive program and the $1.3 million for a robotic dredging device.

The three-metre-wide Castlemaine drain was two-thirds blocked with river-silt which decreases the effectiveness of protecting Suncorp Stadium and almost 3000 properties from flash-flooding.

The drain was fitted with a $679,000 back-flow devices in 2014 as part of the council’s response to the January 2011 floods.

The back-flow valves prevent river flooding but the silt build-up could cause flooding during heavy rainfall events.

The MudCat, a remotely-controlled robotic dredging device.Credit: Brisbane City Council

The remotely controlled robotic dredging device, which would be used on pipes unable to be cleared using traditional flushing methods, resembles a small excavator and can loosen and remove silt from pipes.

Cr Quirk said there were no similar devices used in Australia for pipe-dredging and the MudCat robot would be custom-built to crawl through Brisbane’s drainage network while completely submerged.

Its first job will be the Castlemaine Drain and Caxton Street back-flow device before it is tasked to clear tidal drains in Bulimba, Hawthorne, Newstead, East Brisbane and St Lucia.

Cr Quirk said the $100 million would include a new flood-resilience program that would offer property owners assistance to enhance their home’s flood resilience through council-funded upgrades.

The budget will be handed down on Wednesday, June 13.