Conflicting values !

On Thursday night Wollongong got hit by a rain storm of the magnitude usually only experienced at intervals of several years - and then on Friday the southern suburbs got a repeat dose.  Water rose swiftly in low lying suburbs and people were evacuated from cars and houses as roads became impassable and emergency  services swung into action.

Nobody lost their life and there were no serious injuries, but the financial cost will be huge.  Water flooded through business premises and car parks became lakes, and in most cases when a modern car is immersed in water it becomes a write off for insurance purposes.

Rain events across Australia in recent years have been an interesting phenomenon.  Both the Brisbane and northern New South Wales floods were classed as " catastrophic " and there is no doubt that we are all going to see insurance premiums rise as a result.  Tragically, a lot of victims were not insured, and these premium increases will probably cause many other financially hard pressed people to drop insurance cover because they simply can not meet the payment.

One factor always seems to come to the fore every time we have a rain event - and that is this city's network of creeks and waterways.

This city is surrounded by the escarpment and that acts as a huge funnel to collect water and channel it into the city - on it's way to either the ocean or lake Illawarra.  Nature has provided an escape mechanism for natural rain and this handles water disposal efficiently as long as normal volumes are involved.   It is only at times of phenomenal rain events that the system fails - and we get homes and business flooding.

The problem seems to be a whole set of ecology laws that are now applied to these creek systems.  It is fashionable to talk of " re-generating " the landscape, removing introduced species of plants and replacing them with native vegetation.

One of the business owners affected by these floods complains that she asked council to clear the waterway adjacent to her property - and even offered to pay to have this work done.   This offer was refused - and she was told she would be fined if she interfered with the vegetation in that waterway.

Not only are creeks becoming congested with general rubbish, abandoned supermarket trolleys, bottles and cans - and huge amounts of plastic bags, but some land care groups are actually planting vegetation.  There seems to be a huge conflict between keeping the creeks clear as rainwater escape channels and botany groups who see them as part of the horticultural landscape.

Laws that make sense when applied to general forest areas make absolutely no sense when they are applied to waterways - and yet this is what is happening, and this legislation is being used to stop creeks being cleared to maintain a water flow.

Thursday and Friday's deluge was a natural event and nothing can really be done to prevent floods in times of excessive rain, but the damage can be mitigated if the creeks are treated properly.   To have that happen - we need a law change to restore the right of councils and residents to maintain the flow system as nature intended.,