Millions of mozzies: Blocked drain creates lake

A Sunshine Coast man is calling for council to take responsibility over a dirty, mosquito infested drain which has become blocked with vegetation and sediment.

BLOCKED: Mount Coolum Golf Club president Darryl Frost shows State MP Fiona Simpson the widespread flooding of a blocked drain.

A GOLF club president is calling on Sunshine Coast Council to take responsibility for a dirty, mosquito-infested drain which has become blocked with vegetation and sediment.

The council-built water drain flows underneath Suncoast Beach Drive, through the Mt Coolum Golf Club and then into the Maroochy River.

Mt Coolum Golf Club president Darryl Frost said the drain had become overgrown and blocked with sediment which caused regular flooding and created the perfect habitat for mosquitoes.

"It's a major piece of infrastructure that the council put in, they funnelled all the drainage from Mt Coolum into this drain, which is fine, but they never maintained it," he said.

"It's 3m wide and it should be 30 … it is just a great dirty big lake infested with mosquitoes and the stench of it is unbearable.

"The mosquitoes are by the millions and when it starts to subside the stench of mud is almost indescribable.

"I would take no self-respecting human being into that environment."

Recent heavy rain caused widespread flooding on the golf course, but Mr Frost said even a shower of rain made the drain problematic.

"Everyone has been focusing on the rainfall when we had 230mm in one night, which is a substantial amount of rain, but we could probably have an inch of rain and get the same result," he said.

"We are not talking about abnormal weather conditions it's just an ongoing issue."

Being a breeding ground for mosquitoes, Mr Frost said the putrid smelling water mass not only posed health concerns but also damaged the golf course.

"All the water laying around is doing a substantial amount of damage to our course which we have to repair," he said.

The drain is typically the council's responsibility, but with overgrown vegetation including mangroves the man-built passage now requires environmental approvals from state agencies before it can be widened.

State MP Fiona Simpson said the State Government needed to slash red tape to urgently approve the cleaning out of drains in Mt Coolum and the surrounding area to improve safety and cut risk of flooding.

"This is ridiculous that red tape is making it harder for councils to do their job and compromises keeping the public safe," she said.

"I'm urgently calling on the state ministers and their agencies to approve the council's right to increase the width of this channel within the gazetted drain and to allow them to keep the drains clear and operational in accordance to the storm management plan for the area.

"The lack of efficiency and proper cleaning out of drains is a huge issue and compromises the storm water and flood water management processes."

Mr Frost, who has been battling flooding caused by the water drain for five years, said the drain never would have been a problem if it wasn't for the council's lack of care.

"The problem has arose simply because of the council's negligence and the reason I say that is because the appropriate department that took over the control of the water way has declared it as an environmentally sensitive ecosystem and they did that because of the lack of maintenance that was done on it," he said.

"Now it is looked at as an environmentally sensitive eco system as opposed to a drain."

"And Council don't come to us and say, 'we have done the wrong thing in the past and we are going to do everything we can do to fix it', they come to you and say, 'our hands are tied, there is nothing we can do', that is the problem there is no desire to get a result."

A council spokesman said they were aware of concerns raised by the community regarding water and drainage issues at the golf course.

"Council has visited the site and is currently investigating the issue as a high priority," they said.

"Proactive discussions with the relevant state government departments are also underway and council will continue to provide updates to the Mount Coolum Golf Club."

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