Archive for March 25th, 2011

Submissions Invited to Vic Floods Review

March 25, 2011 | No Comments | News

Submissions to the Victorian Floods Review are invited until Friday 27th May 2011.  On 8 February 2011, Premier of Victoria Ted Baillieu announced the Review of the 2010-11 Flood Warnings and Response. Neil Comrie, AO APM, is to head the review.  The Review of the 2010-11 Flood Warnings and Response will examine:

  • the adequacy of flood predictions and modelling;
  • the timelines and effectiveness of warnings and public information
  • emergency services command and control arrangements;
  • the adequacy of evacuations of people at-risk, including those in health and aged-care facilities;
  • the adequacy of clean-up and recovery efforts;
  • the adequacy of service delivery by Federal, State and local governments, and
  • the adequacy of funding provided by State and Federal governments for emergency grants.

A Parliamentary inquiry would investigate related issues, including identifying best practice and technology for flood mitigation, monitoring infrastructure and levees across Victoria.

The Environment and Natural Resources Committee will make its final report to Parliament by November 30, 2011.

To make a submission visit http://www.floodsreview.vic.gov.au/

Flood Forum Outcome

March 25, 2011 | No Comments | Events

A forum convened by Engineers Australia supported by the Institute of Public Works Engineering and & Consult Australia held on 15th and 16th March 2011 has reviewed the experience of the January floods in Victoria and developed a seven-point plan to improve future flood planning and management.  The Forum noted that the performance of Government agencies, Local Government, community groups, and private bodies during the Floods had been very good, overall, with a low level of injury and only one lost life. This was despite the unprecedented scale of the floods, which meant there were few benchmarks by which to frame the management response.  Nevertheless, such a massive event provides many opportunities to learn and prepare for future events. The Forum’s seven-point plan was prepared with this in mind, and comprises:
1. Improvements to risk-based planning for disaster management at State, Catchment and Local Government levels, including planning floodways through communities that minimise damage;
2. A communication strategy during flood events that delivers more relevant, better targeted information to the community by more effective use of technology;

3. A streamlined, upskilled chain-of-command, with clearer team accountabilities and increased training for both professional and volunteer staff;

4. Infrastructure improvements, especially to the network of flood gauges;

5. More flexibility for Councils to respond to the needs of recovery, including in procurement of goods and services during both the disaster and the recovery and options for ‘building back better’ rather than simply replacing assets with like infrastructure that proved inadequate during the flood;

6. Better knowledge resources, including clearer responsibilities for and recordkeeping on water assets and levees and better catchment drainage models for flood planning; and

7. Improving public understanding of disaster risk and factoring potential flood liabilities into any assessment of approvals for land use, especially for urban development and farm settlements.

Read the full draft communique here  If you would like to comment on the draft communique please do so by sending your comments by 1st April to vic@ipwea.org.au

Thankyou to David Sutcliffe (IPWEAvic Board member) and David Eltringham (IPWEAvic Regional Group Co-ordinaotr Wimmera- Mallee) for co-ordinating the event.
 

 

 
 
 

WHK Economic Outlook for 24 March 2011

March 25, 2011 | No Comments | News

View WHK Market Update for 24 March 2011 here   For more information visit WHK website here.

WHK new address is Level 17, 181 William Street, Melbourne Vic 3000. WHK main telephone contact number has also changed to 03 9258 6700.

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