Logan Reserve couple vows to fight housing estate drain swamping their home
They bought their dream home 33 years ago and never had a problem with flooding until a 124-lot housing development started next door. Now, this elderly southeast Queensland couple are fighting to save their acreage property from going under.
Logan
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An elderly Logan couple is in the battle of their lives to save their acreage property from sinking under thousands of litres of run-off water diverted from a neighbouring housing development.
FARMER CALLS FOR RECYCLED SEWAGE
Veronica Russo-Connors and husband Keith say their little slice of paradise is under siege by property developers flooding it with a stormwater drain pointed right into their backyard.
To make matters worse, at the front, the local council is planning to rip up the garden they have grown for 33 years to lay a massive city sewerage pipe for more houses.
Mrs Russo-Connors said she would never allow the council to use her property for sewerage and was ready to take the Middleton Park developer to court over flooding and the storm water drain.
She said she did not know about the 1m wide drain spewing rivers of water over their Logan Reserve acreage block until she went for a walk to the rear of the four hectare block and noticed the flooding.
To her horror, a large concrete stormwater drain, 5m from her fence, was gushing dirty brown, stinky water and flooding her yard.
That was two years ago, in September 2018, and since then, nothing has been done to stop the outlet pipe from the neighbouring 124-lot Middleton Park housing estate draining on to her land.
“It really stinks and is pouring down one side of our block into our creek,” she said.
“It had not rained here for months and there was still a flood of water and rubbish flowing out of this pipe.
“We’ve lived here for 33 years and that part of the property never flooded.
“We can’t use those back two hectares because they are now too boggy and under water and even more concerning is the open storm water drain which children from the estate can run into.
“It’s not only illegal, it’s also dangerous.”
Her fight is on two fronts, with plans by Logan City Council to put down a sewerage pipe through the middle of their property.
The couple took their plight to the then local Logan City councillor Phil Pidgeon and the developer, Goodrock Property, but had no luck.
The former councillor told them the drain was necessary for the housing estate and he could not stop it draining on to their property.
Project manager for Middleton estate Andrew Rockley wrote to them in November 2018 promising to organise a meeting, which never occurred.
A small breakthrough came late last month when a council officer visited the couple and launched an investigation, which will include flying a drone above the property to get aerial photos.
However, the couple remained sceptical and said the council could be surveying the land for the proposed sewerage pipe.
In a statement, the council said developer Goodrock Property must take steps to mitigate any flooding.
It said if its investigation found any potential breach of the approval conditions, it would apply appropriate enforcement measures, which could include fines or a show cause notice to all parties.
It said the approved plan was for stormwater from the development to drain into two basins on the housing estate site – not next door.
Mrs Russo-Connors said the council told her the dirty, stinky water from the drain was run-off from the housing estate and not sewage.
Middleton Park estate is connected to Logan’s sewerage network with sewage from the site piped to the Loganholme wastewater treatment plant.
But the council said it needed to put in more pipes under the couple’s home to cater for a population explosion at Logan Reserve, which is was earmarked for residential development.
The council said it always consulted property owners where new sewerage pipes were proposed.
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