Flood impacted and worthless?

Our client’s land sits along the northern bank of a creek on the outskirts of a Surat Basin township. The property is bisected by a broad overland flow path which originates as a breakout from further upstream. Council had advised our client that the site was undevelopable, based on broad scale flood modelling.
After an initial review, our modelling team were of the opinion that the breakout flow could be managed. The team used 2D modelling of the area, including the breakout point upstream, to investigate options which could train and integrate the overland flow into a green space feature through the site. The final layout sensitively managed the constraints of the waterway, providing nearly 9Ha of flood free land for the planned development without causing adverse flooding impacts on adjoining properties.

The client’s investment of less than $30,000 revalued his land by nearly $1M.

Drainage reserve dedication?

A prospective development site was impacted by a Council Master Plan overlay which categorised a large portion of the property as Future Drainage Reserve for a sub-regional detention basin.

Preliminary review by our surface water team questioned the logic behind the siting of the proposed basin. After some negotiation, the Council was persuaded to provide our team with the whole of catchment model on which their planning had been based. Our experienced engineers quickly identified a smarter arrangement of basins within the catchment. Using Council’s own model, we were able to demonstrate a better solution for the catchment which did not require a basin on our client’s land. With the Drainage Reserve deleted, we were able give the client an improved development layout and higher yield. The rearrangement also did not require significant alterations to any of the other planned basins in the catchment – a win for everyone!