Put nautical speed signs in flood areas

The new council administrator Ian Reynolds has taken control and hopefully will show leadership re: the flooding problem on the Peninsula that has escalated up the priority lift.

In the short interim before action is taken, I recommend that speed limit signs be installed in flood prone areas.

My suggestion is two knots, two nautical miles per hour, displayed in addition to the existing dry weather speed signs.

Traffic management should also include actions during wet weather and flooding - not just parking, relocation of bus stops, pedestrian safety etc.

The executive summary of the Woy Woy Peninsula Flood Study Final Report March 2010 states: "Generally this nuisance flooding may remain for a couple of days.

"However during very wet periods the ground water table can rise such that flooding remains for several weeks."

Further studies may or may not solve the flooding problem, depending on the direction of the new super council.

Time will tell.

Studies have provided detail, without action, as far back as 1992 when Webb, McKeown and Associates advised: "Development on the Peninsula over the last 50 years has resulted in an inadequate storm water drainage system and increased housing density has contributed to increased flow, reducing the effectiveness of the existing system."

The Woy Woy Peninsula Flood Study Final Report March 2010 also includes information from 1999: "The infiltration device WW5 Mackenzie Ave is not expected to be effective due to installation on top of low permeability coffee rock."

That is, a perched water table.

The council has only completed stage one of a four-stage process. Letter, 6 Jun, 2016 Norman Harris, Umina