Marquart asks for flood maps to be added to plan
One three Central Coast Councillors representing the Peninsula, Troy Marquart, has asked for the flooding chapter to be withdrawn from the council's draft development control plan until maps are added.
Cr Marquart is asking fellow councillors at tonight's council meeting (February 11) to agree to withdraw the chapter that deals with flooding and then to re-exhibit it with maps clearly showing proposed hazard areas.
The draft chapter introduces a flooding hazard category from one to six.
He said he wanted a report detailing how many properties currently zoned with development rights either residential or commercial will face "complete sterilization" of those rights with the proposed hazard categories.
He has asked for clarification of what depth of flood was considered safe for emergency vehicles to enter.
And he said he wanted council to consider the impact of a requirement in the draft chapter that homes experiencing a flood depth of 20cm or more must display a flood danger sign prominently on their property.
The draft plan currently on exhibition is a complex policy comprising over 120 separate documents.
"Amongst the detailed information being exhibited is Chapter 3.1 - Floodplain Management,'' Cr Marquart said.
"This Chapter introduces a new Hazard categorization to be applied via six separate categories, H1 through to H6.
"These Hazard categories will be applied to every property in the LGA subject to any form of flood affectation, Catchment or Coastal.
"The proposed hazard categories will impact many thousands of homes, possibly 30,000 plus.
"The proposed hazard categories apply various development constraints depending on flood affectation culminating in the complete sterilization of residential properties from all future development in categories H4 and above.
"For some other land uses, such as residential subdivision, the Chapter proposes the consideration of a Possible Maximum Flood, an event the SES describes as having an occurrence probability of 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 10,000,000 years!
"The Plan, while referencing hazard mapping, actually includes no mapping for the proposed Hazard zones within the exhibition documents, nor any guidance that would allow residents to reasonably ascertain which Hazard category that Council will apply to their property."
If Cr Marquart's notice of motion is successful, the chapter would be exhibited for six weeks.
The Plan is currently on public exhibition until February 28.
SOURCE:
Central Coast Council agenda 6.4, 11 Feb 2019
Reporter: Merilyn Vale