Residents angry over poor drainage

Manfred and Elke Weiss are unhappy with the poor drainage in their Moore Park Beach street.

Mike Knott

ANGRY Moore Park Beach residents have demanded a drainage overhaul, claiming recent rains have highlighted fundamental flaws in the town’s storm water system.

They have deemed the town’s network of drainage trenches to be inadequate and have called for a Bundaberg Regional Council overhaul of the system.

Elfin Court resident Elke Weiss said a lack of road guttering and inadequate drainage caused a torrent of water to rush down her street and into her yard.

“Our backyard looks like a swamp and our next door neighbour’s yard has ducks swimming through it,” she said.

Her prized garden has been ruined and one end of her $20,000 in-ground pool has sunk into the water-logged soil.

Pandanas Street resident John Spencer pumped the equivalent of an Olympic-sized swimming pool from his yard on Tuesday only to see it fill up again the next morning.

“It looks like the Daintree Rainforest in wet season out here,” he said.

Mr Spencer believes his damage bill in the wake of recent flooding will run in excess of $15,000.

“I want council to sit down and try and come up with some solutions. I don’t think we should have to go through this again,” he said.

Bundaberg Regional Council Mayor Lorraine Pyefinch said council was doing its best to solve drainage problems as they occurred.

“The low lying nature of many areas within our region means they are vulnerable to flooding and inundation during high tides, cyclones and significant rainfall events,” she said.

Cr Pyefinch said council had a regular program to respond to routine maintenance issues, but poorly designed systems in low lying areas would always be problematic.

“Retrofitting all existing subdivisions that were constructed with poor or inadequate drainage systems is an expensive exercise beyond the capacity of this council and its ratepayers to fund,” she said.

She said new subdivisions would be required to meet higher standards of engineering.