THE residents of almost 500 units planned for the banks of the Bremer would have been evacuated at the weekend.
That’s the view of North Ipswich resident, Nick White, the man behind the Sinking Ipswich Facebook site which is against a proposal for Bob Ell’s Leda Holdings to develop and rezone flood-prone land for 471 units at 48 and 22 W M Hughes Street on a block bought for $75,000 in the early 2000s.
Mr White said the weekend’s torrential rains and localised flooding proved yet again that the unit plans should be scrapped.
“On at least six occasions in four years residents would have been evacuated,” he said.
“While Sunday’s flooding might not have been major, more rain would have escalated into flooding in no time.
“The flood plan is flawed.”
On Sunday, The Bureau of Meteorology issued a flood warning at 5.36am for moderate flooding, when the gauges at Harrisville rose five metres in less than two hours.
The Flood Evacuation Plan would have forced the evacuation of 1,500 residents.
Development around W M Hughes Street has been planned since around 2005.
In 2020, plans were submitted for the location for a recreation precinct with two drive-in theatre screens, mini golf, rock climbing, two half basketball courts and a wet play area.
Town planners at the time noted that zoning provided for a range of uses including residential development, “however increases in flooding constraints on the land has led to the consideration of uses other than residential”.
Public submissions for the current development are due from the public by December 19.
Residents wishing to find out how to best write a submission are invited on December 8 to meet at the cafe area of Market Organics, 53 Downs Street, North Ipswich, from 8am to noon.
“Have a coffee, catch up with concerned community members,” an organiser said.
“Bring a pen and do a quick submission raising your concerns.
“It’s quick and easy. We need 50 submissions against the proposal to have the proposal assessed by an independent assessor.”
Meanwhile, Council was yesterday due to hold a Planning Committee meeting to discuss a year-old petition against the units plan.
The petition wants all floodplain development stopped and for the remediation of the floodplain, with floodplain works to be impact assessed, not code assessed.