Victoria Racing Club boss refuses to say if he thinks Flemington Racecourse wall led to flooding

The boss of Victoria Racing Club has refused to say if a Flemington Racecourse wall was to blame for worsening devastating flooding in 2022 as an inquiry heard air sirens are needed for future disasters.

Victoria Racing Club boss Steve Rosich has declined to weigh in on whether the wall around Flemington Racecourse had the “adverse consequence” of leading to the flooding of more than 500 homes in 2022.

Speaking before the panel probing the state’s devastating floods, Mr Roisch on multiple occasions declined to answer on whether he personally believed the wall was to blame for local residents’ homes being flooded.

On one occasion he responded “that’s for the experts to determine”.

When pushed on the issue by Greens MP Samanatha Ratnam he said: “Given my expertise that’s for others to determine other than that the wall serves a purpose. So we will leave that to others”.

When asked whether the flood wall should stay, Mr Roisch said the structure was “fundamental” in keeping 600 horses safe by stopping water from entering the stable areas.

The controversial Flemington Racecourse flood wall has come under public scrutiny in recent years over claims it exacerbated floodwaters that devastated Maribyrnong in 2022.

The structure was approved by the Bracks government in 2004 and completed in 2007.

Former chief executive Dale Monteith copped huge backlash in 2022 when he tweeted about the wall saving the racecourse from the flood during the disaster event.

In the months since, angry residents have demanded the wall be torn down.

Current chief executive Mr Rosich told the inquiry he believed the wall “served a purpose” when asked whether it should go.

The flood wall was one of the main reasons the upper house inquiry was launched.

Earlier in the day, councils revealed the extent of the damage from the floods.

The Maribyrnong River peaked at 4.21m during the flood. Picture: William West

A Victorian inquiry is probing the flood in the response to it. Picture: David Caird

Meanwhile, the inquiry heard new flood alert measures, such as air raid sirens, should be installed to warn residents to evacuate after the state’s alert systems failed in the 2022 floods.

The panel probing the state’s devastating floods was also told that hundreds of waterfront homes across Melbourne would likely become uninsurable in the future.

Representatives from the three major Melbourne councils affected by the October 2022 Maribyrnong River flood appeared before the state inquiry on Wednesday, warning current flood systems were not adequate and that resident’s faced ongoing risks in the future.

Maribyrnong City Council mayor Sarah Carter said modelling before the October 14 deluge “was way off”.

She describe alerts fluctuating from minimal to extreme in the 24 hours leading up to the event before 512 homes were damaged and left uninhabitable.

The Maribyrnong River peaked at 4.21m — 1cm higher than the 1974 floods and 40cm higher than authorities had forecast.

Moonee Valley City Council Mayor Pierce Tyson added that his municipality saw alerts downgraded from “severe to moderate” during the day, which was “substantially dangerous”.

He added that his council had since spent $2.38m cleaning up after the event, which included carting away 250,000 litres of mud.

Across the LGAs hundreds of residents were displaced for up to 12 months after the flood, which led to significant mental and financial detriment for some people.

The inquiry heard multiple times that warnings and modelling were “outdated” and all councils said alerts were inadequate need to be boosted further.

Moonee Valley municipality carting away 250,000 litres of mud. Picture: William West

Mr Tyson called for new measures like air raid sirens.

He also warned that it was likely that many houses along the river would become uninsurable in the coming years, a development that has happened to homeowners along the Brisbane River in Queensland.

Premiums in some areas have already doubled, Mr Tyson said.

The inquiry also heard that flood mapping was “completely inadequate” and was useless for emergency service agencies.

The damning review by councils follows Melbourne Water being urged to improve its forecasting systems.

An independent Review Panel appointed by Melbourne Water to conduct a review into last year’s floods last week handed down its final report, with 15 recommendations that included an independent expert review and audit of the organisation’s forecasting system.