General News
4 December, 2024
Sunset up in arms after 'overgrown' creek causes flooding
The angry residents and business owners held a meeting on Tuesday morning.
Mount Isa mayor Peta MacRae has faced the ire of Sunset business owners and residents who claim the council has not sufficiently responded to repeated warnings that overgrowth along Breakaway Creek would increase the risk of flood damage to their properties.
Sunset Tourist Park owner Kylie Rixon, who hosted the meeting on Tuesday and was among those who suffered flood damage when the creek overflowed following a heavy deluge last week, told North West Weekly that more than 20 local residents and business owners attended the gathering, with some homeowners reporting they had been flooded twice this year.
Ms Rixon said Cr MacRae told the public gathering that the council had “dropped the ball” on the matter and that she planned to immediately raise their concerns at a special council meeting later that day.
While acknowledging council workers had been clearing the creek area opposite the Sunset Drive crossing in the days prior to last week’s deluge, business owners bordering the area said they had repeatedly warned the council about the flooding risk posed from years of overgrowth.
Ms Rixon said she wrote to the council just four days prior to last Thursday’s flash flooding, repeating claims that overgrowth along the creek needed to be a priority.
The caravan park owner said she attempted each year to maintain the area lining the creek that touches her property and even ensured that unpowered caravan owners and campers were relocated to other sections of the park during the wet season.
Ms Rixon said there was also mountains of rubbish in the creek that needed to also be cleared, which she had previously dedicated time to removing in order to make her business more presentable. However, she said her efforts were being let down by a lack of overall creek management.
“I understand there is probably some parts that is state land and some parts that is council land – I understand there can be difficulties with the land zoning issues or laws – but there is a solution for everything and we need to find one quickly,” she told North West Weekly.
“The wet season is approaching and there is going to be more storms coming.”
Ms Rixon was forced to cut through a locked fence chain to provide an exit point for tourists after water that had bottle-necked at Sunset Bridge gushed into her business.
She said her park driveway had been severely damaged, the pool was flooded with dirty creek water and almost the entire tourist park was flooded with water more than 20cm high.
Fortunately, none of the water entered the cabins or caravans.
It required about a dozen volunteers, mostly from ENZED, Top Fire Construction and GTS BBQ, to assist with hosing down the area and cleaning up the damage the following day.
Long-time Sunset Tourist Park resident Alan Prideaux said the area had only flooded about three or four times in the 35 years he had lived at the park.
However, he said he had never seen the overgrowth at Breakaway Creek as thick as it currently was.
ENZED Mount Isa general manager Darrin Mackenzie, whose business lost a printer and some computer equipment after its front area was inundated, said he hoped the council would listen to residents in the area and take action on the overgrowth.
“A creek bed in the middle of a city should not look like a rainforest,” he said.
“We have sent emails to previous councils, probably the last time was two years ago, letting them know that the area was looking too thick and something should probably be done about it.
“I used to be able to sit in my office and look across the creek at the caravan park – and that was only about five years ago – I can’t see anything now, the growth has gotten out of hand since then.”
Mount Isa City Council chief executive officer Tim Rose said Breakaway Creek was a “complicated divide” between state-controlled and council-controlled land, which impacted the council’s ability to deliver its scheduled clearing along the area.
He said the state government had committed disaster prevention funding, and while this money was yet to be formally received, council had still decided to go ahead with planned clearing along Breakaway Creek in recent weeks.
Mr Rose said the council had completed about 4000m2 of invasive species removal from Breakaway Creek, including works as recently as last week and, weather permitting, council workers would continue clearing the creekside, including along the waterway in question that divides ENZED and Sunset Tourist Park.
He said the council’s efforts were geared towards clearing rain tree, which are a prolific spreading weed within the region that can block drains and waterways.
“Works will continue across our waterways as we have people and machinery available,” Mr Rose said.
“Residents and landholders are encouraged to assist our efforts by clearing rain tree from their properties.”
