2015-11-10 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                              10 NOVEMBER 2015


 Public notice in the Noosa News on Tuesday 18 August 2015;
 Media releases of Wednesday 19 August 2015 and 25 August 2015;
 Correspondence sent directly to the Building & Planning consultants on Council’s mailing list;
 Correspondence sent directly to people who had previously contributed to the preliminary
   consultation in 2014; and
 Correspondence sent directly to land owners affected by zone, flood hazard or water supply
   catchment changes.

During the consultation period Council officers fielded hundreds of telephone, counter and email
enquiries on the proposed amendments with the majority of customers determining they would
not make any submission on the amendments.

The last official day for receipt of submissions was Friday 2 October however submissions
received within the week that followed have also been accepted.

2.    Flood Hazard Mapping

The proposed Flood Hazard Overlay mapping amendments represented the majority of enquiries
and submissions. Around 1,700 letters were sent out by Council to individual property owners
advising of the proposed flood mapping changes. 18 submissions relating to flooding were
received.

For many property owners it is the first time their property has been affected by flood mapping in
the planning scheme. For others the changes increase the extent of mapping over their property
(i.e. more of their property is now mapped).

Many concerns related to the perceived impacts on property values and insurance premiums
while other submitters felt that the mapping did not accurately reflect the true extent of flood
inundation across their property during a heavy rain event – from their experience flooding affects
less of their property or in a slightly different location.

Council has a duty of care and legal obligation to disclose flood hazard information within the
planning scheme. Doing this enables existing property owners to make investment and building
decisions based on the likely flood risk and enables prospective property purchasers to make
informed decisions.

It is noted also that the flood mapping only shows the probable flood extent for a 1%AEP (1 in
100 year) flood event. The 1% AEP is considered a suitable and widely adopted flood level for
planning purposes. However, larger less frequent flooding may also impact properties.

Council’s flood consultant, HydraLogic, has reviewed each of the flood related submissions. The
flood mapped areas were reviewed against:
 Aerial Laser Survey terrain levels;
 Anticipated flood extents based upon levels from the relevant flood models and studies; and
 Historical anecdotal information - In some cases submitters were able to provide photo
   evidence of past flooding on their properties and this information was taken into account.

The difficulty with the historical information is that it does not always match the anticipated flood
level that informed the mapping. In other words, the flood event experienced may have been of a
lower magnitude than the modelled 1%AEP flood event depicted on the maps.

The primary intent of the flood mapping is to ensure that future development appropriately
considers potential flood hazard. This overlay is a trigger for further investigation of flood risk
based on the type of development proposed.


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