Flood related Lara planning, building overlays won’t proceed after council vote

Hundreds of people opposed Geelong council’s moved to impose flood overlays on their properties. Their concerns haven’t gone unnoticed.

Cr Anthony Aitken. Picture: Alan Barber

People power has sunk proposed planning overlays in Lara relating to flooding, which concerned residents feared would increase insurance premiums and unfairly limit building work if approved.

About 3600 properties in Lara won’t have the flooding overlays applied after council voted on Tuesday to end an almost two-year process.

That process included modelling of flooding in Lara to determine where planning controls were needed for new and existing building in the suburb; and multiple rounds of community feedback about the proposed controls.

A separate process, assessing the need for flood overlays in Fyansford and other areas on the Bellarine Peninsula,will be sent to an independent planning panel.

Those overlays will need to come back to council to be voted on and the process is likely to take months.

It comes after hundreds of Lara residents opposed the planning controls and flooding overlays proposed for their suburb, citing questionable data used to develop modelling that was contrary to their on-the-ground experiences of water in the area.

A report from consultant Water Technology, released this week, noted the Lara flood study showed council had “demonstrated a strong understanding of the area, its flood plain and drainage infrastructure.”

A council report produced on the Lara flood overlay this week notes: “There is a risk if council, as the planning authority, does not act on the flood mapping it has available, it may be liable if flooding occurs in the future and damages property developed subsequent to the studies.”

The report also states: “Council can reduce this risk by acting on the scientific based data it has available and applying the appropriate planning overlay or zone as proposed. It is considered council has a duty of care to act and identify flooding and properly control development in flood prone areas.”

City of Greater Geelong Deputy Mayor Anthony Aitken, whose ward covers Lara, said residents had reported inconsistencies in the flood modelling including one resident who had the slope of their property misrepresented.

“The community provided enough evidence that the original flood study was questionable and still continues to be questionable,” Mr Aitken said.

“What a future council may wish to do is up to them but I certainly won’t be supportive of another amendment process commencing.”

If council want to again consider flood overlays on Lara properties it would have to prepare another planning scheme amendment which would need to be voted on by councillors at a public meeting.

Councillor Kylie Grzybek — whose ward covers Lara but who excused herself from the council vote because she owns property in the flood study area — said she supported not proceeding with the Lara flood overlays.

“The community wasn’t engaged (by council) the way it should have been,” Ms Grzybek said.

She said there was community concern insurance premiums would increase for Lara properties if the overlays were approved.

Six Lara residents who asked public questions at the City of Greater Geelong council meeting this week called for the Lara flooding overlays to be scrapped.

Originally published as Flood related Lara planning, building overlays won’t proceed after council vote