River house slammed

By DION TEASDALE
PLANS to build a house on a river floodplain have been slammed as ‘outrageous and bloody dangerous’.
Former Melbourne Water manager Ron Sutherland says the proposal would put the lives of the residents at risk.
The controversial family home is to be built on a 2.5 metre mound on the flood plain between the Yarra River and the Yeringberg Creek off Tarrawarra Road, Coldstream.
Mr Sutherland, who has more than 30 years’ experience working with both Melbourne Water and the Rural Water Commission, said the decision to grant permission for the house ranked as one of the worst examples of flood plain management he had ever seen.
“The development is in the active section of the Yarra flood plain in Tarrawarra. Residential developments in these areas should never be considered because of the inherent dangers to health and safety of occupants,” he said.
“The decision to allow this to proceed is clearly contrary to all flood plain management guidelines in Victoria and Australia.
“It is outrageous and bloody dangerous and Melbourne Water should be brought to account.”
The house was given the goahead earlier this month after a VCAT hearing in June upheld Melbourne Water’s decision to allow the development.
Mr Sutherland appeared as an expert witness at the VCAT hearing on behalf of a group of objectors, which included Healesville Environment Watch (HEWI), the Yarra Riverkeeper Association (YRA) and Tarrawarra Road resident Kurt van Wijk.
Mr Sutherland, who left Melbourne Water two years ago, said the people behind the decision to allow the development were junior and lacked experience on flood plain management. He also said he was concerned the development would become a precedent for other inappropriate developments in flood plains across the state.
Melbourne Water land development team leader Kate Kinsella defended the water authority’s management of flood plain developments.
“Our priority is to ensure all new development applications referred to us meet the strict standards for flood protection, and therefore do not increase the risk of flooding in the area,” she said.
“In this particular case, we are satisfied that the development will not increase the risk of flooding in that area and that the proposal meets the guidelines.”
Ms Kinsella said Melbourne Water had received advice from the Shire of Yarra Ranges that they were satisfied that the granting of the permit for the development would not create an inappropriate precedent.
Mr Sutherland said he had considered the idea of taking the case to the Supreme Court, but would focus on working with HEWI, YRA and Mr Van Wijk to seek tighter planning restrictions through the Shire of Yarra Ranges to prevent similar developments.