East Mackay resident Diane Vella battling to save Mackay from flooding and she says the council isn’t listening

Fed up with the council’s approach to flood risk, a Mackay woman is taking her concerns public.

East Mackay resident Diane Vella has been on the flood beat for years and she’s fed up.

After documenting erosion around Shellgrit Creek and what she sees as poor maintenance of the city’s drainage system, she wants the council to step up and answer her concerns.

“What I’m trying to get the council to do is firstly listen,” she said.

“Because over a period of time they haven’t listened and they’ve got a three-minute rule in council meetings that you can only talk for three minutes.

“Well, sometimes it’s a bit hard to get your three minutes across to council and so what I have been doing, I’ve been sending my photographs.”

Some of Ms Vella’s photographs show erosion around Shellgrit Creek across from Illawong Park and she says the sandbars in the creek are to blame.

Sandbars in Shellgrit Creek. Picture: Diane Vella

“The erosion is here because of the sandbars in the creek,” she said.

“I think the creek is trying to find another way through.”

Ms Vella wants council to invest $8m to remove the sandbars, but Mackay Regional Council Engineering and Commercial Infrastructure director Jason Devitt says the money isn’t there.

“Grant applications for this project have been lodged unsuccessfully in the past and we continue to look for funding opportunities given the project is estimated at $8m,” he said.

Ms Vella, who lives on Atkinson St, is incensed about the state of the city’s drainage network.

East Mackay resident Diane Vella shows off the erosion around Shellgrit Creek. Picture: Matthew Forrest

“The other thing I think they need to do is maintain the drains,” she said.

“You don’t put something in and don’t maintain it.

“And this is what has been happening for a long period of time and that’s why I’ve kept all my photos.”

Mr Devitt, however, said the council maintained the city’s drains to a satisfactory standard.

“Council has an ongoing scheduled program to mow and maintain all its drainage assets,” he said.

“However, this is impacted by wet weather, which can prevent access at different times.

“Council is satisfied that, overall, it is managing the maintenance of its drainage network to the necessary standards.”

In a formal complaint lodged with the council in December 2021, Ms Vella claims the city’s floodgates are not sealing properly, resulting in water inundation over the Iluka Court-Reef Parade walkway.

“As the water leaks through the gates, this becomes a safety issue once it reaches and covers the walkway,” Ms Vella writes.

“The walkways are used by walkers, runners and cyclists. There has already been an incident where a cyclist’s bike slipped from under her.”

Water inundation over the walkway between Iluka Court and Reef Parade. Picture: Diane Vella

Finally, Ms Vella says the city’s flood gates are inadequate to protect against tidal surges.

The council responded to Ms Vella’s concerns in a letter dated February 7 and said it would address the issue of leakage.

“The nature of flood gates are that they rely on external hydraulic pressure to seal the flood gate from leakage,” the letter reads.

“At low hydraulic pressures there will be some leakage with the best estimate of 0.3L per minute of seal leaking past the flood gate until the hydrostatic pressure increases.

“It is not possible to apply positive pressure as it would hinder the ability of the gates to open in the opposite direction.

“Based on my review I have decided that council will investigate the provision of an alternative collection system to redirect this leakage to the spoon drain through the detention basin for disposal in the Kilgour St drainage system.”

Ms Vella is not the only resident in Mackay concerned about flooding.

City leaders are pushing for a $28m funding injection from the federal government for critical repairs to the city’s flood protection system.

Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson, pictured with Councillor Pauline Townsend and Uniform Solutions owner Brenda McLean at a think tank to revive the City Centre on Friday, May 28, 2021. Picture: Heidi Petith

A core pillar of the plan is to build a levee bank around the southern end of Mackay Airport after the Mackay Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan found the dominant source of flooding for East and South Mackay was storm tide, not Pioneer River overflow.

“There is no levee system around the bottom end of the airport,” Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said.

Ms Vella is not impressed at the levee bank proposal.

“If the sandbars remain and you put a levee bank in, how is the water going to get out?” she asked.

The back-and-forth between Ms Vella and the council has been going on for years and many of the matters raised by Ms Vella date back to the early 2000s.

“I don’t think they have been fair to me,” Ms Vella said.

“Council do not respond to you in the public forum.”