Controversial Flemington racecourse flood wall to be reviewed

A review will determine whether a wall around Flemington Racecourse exacerbated floodwaters that devastated Maribyrnong.

A review will be conducted by Melbourne Water to determine whether a 3m floodwater wall around Flemington Racecourse exacerbated the severity of the flood that devastated Maribyrnong on Friday.

“Melbourne Water will conduct a thorough review of this flood event and any impact that wall had on this flood event,” Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday.

“And they’ll do that work at arm’s length from the government and report progress.”

Aerial footage this week showed the racetrack’s lush green grass had been largely untouched by floodwaters, while neighbouring homes and roads were underwater.

Flemington Racecourse avoided major flooding. Picture: David Caird

Residents say the severity of the flood was exacerbated by the wall, claiming it pushed water back towards their houses.

Mr Andrews said the review would not look into whether locals in Maribyrnong were given enough time to evacuate.

Melbourne Water manages and protects Melbourne’s major water resources on behalf of the community.

It comes after Victoria’s emergency services have been forced to defend their warning system after residents on the Maribyrnong River complained they were given little time to prepare for floods.

The Bureau of Meteorology put out a “watch and act” warning for areas in northwest Melbourne along the river on Thursday, which was upgraded at 9.16pm urging people to seek higher ground.

A major flood warning was issued at 2.30am Friday and by 5am Victoria’s State Emergency Services were visiting homes in high-risk areas urging them to evacuate.

Locals caught out in the floods have criticised the approach and said more should have been done to alert them about the danger.

A ‘watch and act’ was issued ahead of the Maribyrnong floods. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Residents of Navigator St, who did not wish to be named, said despite the incredible efforts from the SES, the lack of preparation was unacceptable.

“We were given 30 minutes to evacuate on Friday, and even another 90 minutes on top of that would have made all the difference,” they said.

“There are people on our street in wheelchairs, as well as elderly people, and they all had to be rescued because of the lack of preparation.

“This is a flood plain, we know that, but water rose four metres above what they suggested — that’s not good enough.

“The council gave us absolutely no information, even though this storm has been on the radar for a week or so.

“We should have been positioned to expect the worst but hope for the best, but instead we got nothing.”

Their house had turned into a “washing machine” from the water entering their homes, now drained to five inches of thick mud lining their kitchen floor.

“The fridge fell over, the microwave was hanging off the shelf and it was just pure chaos.

“It was literally like someone had the thrown all our stuff in the middle of the room, swished it around and drenched it in mud.”

Cars in floodwater on Navigator St in Maribyrnong. Picture: Tony Gough

They said the issues caused by the Flemington Racecourse barrier were far from a surprise, recalling the controversy when it was first installed.

“It’s hard to say what would have happened if the flood gates weren’t there because there was just so much rain, but the fact that it’s pushed all the rain back on to us is a bit dodgy,” they said.

“I know that Victoria would have lost millions of dollars if the spring racing carnival was cancelled, but it’s going to cost millions either way in damages to homes.”

Praises were overflowing for the strength of the local community as they offered immense gratitude to the SES and local heroes of Maribyrnong.

“There’s no question that our emergency services are second to none,” they said.

“And there were people putting their safety on the line left, right and centre to ensure that all vulnerable people — like the kids, or people with disabilities and the elderly – could get to safety.

“So even though this is so devastating, everyone pulling together has been really heartwarming.”

A flooded Maribyrnong home. Picture: Tony Gough

Maribyrnong resident Annette Anderson, whose front fence on Oakland St was completely submerged by 9am, said she never expected it to happen.

“It wasn’t enough warning,” she said. “No SES knocked on our door”.

When asked about these complaints, SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch said alerts had been out for several days and workers had been doorknocking in the area as early as Tuesday.

“In this scenario, many of the properties that were most at risk had been doorknocked earlier and also had watch and act messages out,” he said.

“I can’t emphasise enough to Victorians that part of our warning system is all about an escalated response.

“If you are under a ‘watch and act’ warning right at this time, those words mean exactly that.

“We’re asking you to watch and monitor your conditions, we’re asking you to be prepared to act because it could be with this dynamic situation that very quickly we move to an emergency warning or an evacuation warning.”

Mr Wiebusch said the floods on the Maribyrnong River had come as rainfall exceeded the initial forecast and there had been a high tide in the area.

“Those factors together always means that no two floods are the same,” he said.

Anger grows over Flemington Racecourse flood wall

The Victorian Greens have urged Racing Victoria to stump up cash for flood relief efforts, as community anger grows over the floodproof wall surrounding Flemington Racecourse.

It follows aerial footage which highlighted the devastation of the local area, compared to the Flemington Racecourse which was largely untouched by the floodwaters.

Melbourne Racing Club chairman Mike Symons took to social media to credit the Victorian Racing Club committee for the “considerable investment” to prevent the flood event from impacting the Melbourne Cup carnival.

Social media users reacted furiously to the post, blaming the wall for causing more damage to nearby houses.

“Great success in redirecting floodwater away from a natural water catchment plain and into people’s houses that they had to evacuate! But thank goodness the horses have somewhere to run next week,” one social media user wrote.

SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch maintained that Maribyrnong residents were appropriately informed about the flood risks in the lead up to the downpour.

Melbourne Racing Club chairman Mike Symons. Picture: Michael Klein

But he said none of his local SES representatives had raised concerns about the flood wall around the racecourse.

“To the best of my knowledge, certainly not in my time as chief officer have I been made aware of a challenge particularly with the levee wall at Flemington,” he said.

“Whether that has contributed to some of the flooding is something probably that we will need to refer to Melbourne Water to talk through how that plays out hydrologically.

“What we do know is that when the water reaches that area, we’ve got flood warnings and things where the modelling takes into account all of those structures that are in place, whether it’s levies or the like.”

Premier Daniel Andrews said he had seen the aerial images, but hadn’t been made aware of the community concern in the past.

Asked if it was a good look for Mr Symon to spruik the benefits of the wall online, Mr Andrews said: “That’s a matter for the chairman.”

“I’m not here to indicate what’s a good or a bad look, like I’d be here all day,” he added.

“My job at the moment and every day is to make sure that we keep people safe.

“Let’s not lose sight of the fact that we have people out of their homes, absolutely, we need to support them.”

Victorian Greens deputy leader Ellen Sandell said the wall was symbolic of Labor’s priorities and that the gambling industry had a responsibility to help with the state’s flood relief efforts.

“Yesterday areas of Kensington were under metres of water while the Flemington Racecourse was kept largely dry by a flood wall, pushed through by a Labor government at the expense of the community and against the wishes of council,” Ms Sandell said.

“At the time the council said that if this flood wall was built, the water wouldn’t be able to dissipate and would be pushed towards homes, and homes would be flooded.

“This is exactly what we’ve seen. Yesterday we saw people along the Maribyrnong River lose everything. We’ve seen people lose cars, lose homes, and lose all their possessions.

“Yet the Labor government’s priority was to protect the profits of the gambling and racing industry.

“Once these flood waters subside, Racing Victoria and every associated gambling entity about to bank millions at the spring racing carnival better be ready to stump up the cash to help with the flood clean-up effort.”