| FLYER ISSUE 8: AUGUST
2021
| READ IN BROWSER https://archive.aweber.com/newsletter/awlist3776483/MzcwMjM4NQ==/fma-flyer-8-august.htm
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NEXT FMA MEETINGS: QLD CHAPTER MEETING 10 NOVEMBER AT BRISBANE
NSW/ACT CHAPTER MEETING 18 NOVEMBER AT SYDNEY
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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Unless you’re lucky enough to live in Queensland, you may be living in “lockdown” and working from home at the moment.
So you get up each morning and check your emails. You deal with the ones you can respond to, and send a few seeking a response or approval. Maybe you make a few phone calls and then what?
While you wait for some responses, it’s now 10am so do you shower and change out of your pyjamas or perhaps make another coffee? Big decision!
You check the online news only to find that COVID/Delta is out of control, Afghanistan is out of control, and our politicians are out of control.
So how do we cope with life like this?
And what about those people in the eastern states who are still recovering from those big floods 4 or 5 months ago and those more recent floods in Western Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Tennessee and North Carolina in the USA. People will still be waiting for insurance claims and repairs while living with in-laws. How do they cope with COVID restrictions on top of
that?
Life can be very depressing at the moment, and you will recall that the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities Report a few years ago quoted the Red Cross, which said something like the social cost of natural disasters was at least 50% of the total cost. Social impacts such as depression, marriage breakdown, alcoholism, stress and
anxiety are prevalent at the moment with calls to agencies such as Lifeline, Beyond Blue and Black Dog at record levels.
With COVID-19, natural disasters, terrorism and other horrible news on our TV every day, we may be feeling like there is no escape from it all. The Australian Psychological Society has published a helpful fact sheet for dealing with coronavirus anxiety: https://www.psychology.org.au/getmedia/3ed423a0-6c8d-4b95-ad94-358dc0c12145/20APS-IS-COVID-19-Coping-Anxiety-P3.pdf
An extract is as follows:
Practise self-care
To help encourage a positive frame of mind, it is important to look after yourself. Everybody practises self-care differently with some examples including:
- maintaining good social connections and communicating openly with family and friends
- making time for activities and hobbies you enjoy
- keeping up a healthy lifestyle by eating a balanced diet
- exercising regularly, getting quality sleep and avoiding the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs to cope with stress
- practising relaxation, meditation and mindfulness to give your body a chance to settle and readjust to a calm state.
I hope that last week’s Online FMA Meeting has, in addition to bringing us up to date with the latest developments in FRM, helped us maintain those important social connections within our FMA network. As we continue to cope with this COVID challenge, remember you’re not the only one feeling this way and maybe someone in our huge FMA family would love to hear
from you.
ID
Ian Dinham | FMA President
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AUGUST FMA MEETING WRAP UP
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The concurrent Queensland and NSW Land Use Planning Workshops on 26 August involved a record combined attendance of around 180 in lively discussion. Those who logged onto the Meeting heard updates from the FMA Executive Committee, Young Floodplain Managers, Insurance Council of Australia, Queensland Reconstruction Authority, NSW Department
of Planning Industry and Environment, NSW State Emergency Service, ACT State Emergency Service, VIC Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the Bureau of Meteorology. If you are interested in those updates and were unable to make the Meeting, those reports will be made available in the upcoming FMA Meeting Minutes.
The highlight of the day was the afternoon workshops convened by FMA Land Use Planning Director Paul Grech (NSW Workshop) and FMA Queensland Director William Prentice (QLD Workshop). Attendance at these workshops was high, and you can read more about them in the articles below.
We will let you know when videos of the Workshops are available to view in the Members’ Section of the FMA Website.
We are hopeful that we will be able to meet with you in November in either Sydney or Brisbane (or both?), but know that there is a very real chance this may not be possible. If in-person gatherings are still not feasible at that point, we will reconvene in our now familiar online format. Either way, please lock in the following and we will keep you posted closer to the dates:
Queensland Chapter Meeting: 10 November in Brisbane
NSW/ACT Chapter Meeting: 18 November in Sydney
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the August Meeting. If you were unable to advise your attendance or put forward your apology, please contact [email protected].
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AUGUST QLD WORKSHOP: ROAD MAP TO RISK BASED LAND USE PLANNING
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The need for planning guidance was identified in the FMA Queensland Action Plan and the resulting Road Map to Risk Based Land Use Planning is now nearing completion. At the Workshop Queensland FMA Director Will Prentice discussed risk-based approaches to land use planning, and sought feedback on a draft “visual plan on page” road map that Queensland Local Government will be able to
apply.
Workshop input from a range of Council, agency and industry representatives, as well as information from the pre-Workshop survey, will assist in finalising the document. If you haven’t yet completed the survey, Will is still keen to receive your input: survey
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AUGUST NSW WORKSHOP: THE NEW FLOOD PRONE LAND PACKAGE
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The NSW Workshop following our August Quarterly Meeting was well attended and generated a great deal of discussion on the different components of the NSW Flood Prone Land Package, which came into effect on 14 July. We are very grateful to Melanie Schwecke (Department of Planning, Industry and Environment), Adam Wilkinson (Penrith City Council) and Erin Sellers
(Sutherland Shire Council) for their contributions to the success of the Workshop. Melanie and the Department were congratulated on the reforms achieved.
FMA Land Use Planning Director Paul Grech led the conversation seeking to explore the opportunities that the changes to all Council local environmental plans (LEPs) and the introduction of the new “Considering flooding in land use planning Guideline” now provide for advancing risk based flood planning in NSW. This new Guideline replaces the contentious 2007
Guideline.
However it did became evident that there are a few issues with the wording of the new provisions and the implementation of the package that are problematic, and could have unintended consequences.
An example discussed at the Workshop was the apparent requirement of the LEP clause for consideration of the impact of a development on climate change, as opposed to the impact of climate change related flood risk on the development.
Issues with the introduction of new planning legislation do occur, and it is common for the Department to undertake housekeeping amendments after a settling-in period.
We recommend that Members take up Melanie’s offer to contact her and outline any such matters ([email protected]). We would also appreciate you copying your correspondence to FMA ([email protected]) so that our Land Use Planning Director can follow up with a holistic submission on the need for housekeeping refinements.
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FMA WEBINAR SERIES LAUNCHING 2 SEPTEMBER
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Coming up on September 2, the FMA Webinar Series will run again with presentations from the recent FMA 2021 Online Conference.
The presentations will feature some of the most popular recorded presentations from our Conference program with access available to each webinar for two weeks. A new webinar will be released every fortnight in the Members’ Section of floods.org.au beginning on the 2 September.
The first webinar in the series will be Community Recovery on the Floodplain: The Townsville Resilience Collective from Alicia Palmer of Townsville City Council, which ranked very highly with the Harold Sternbeck Medal judges this year.
You will need to have registered for the Members' Section to view the webinars. If have not registered for access to the Members’ Section, or have forgotten your login details, contact [email protected].
If you aren’t an FMA Member, but are interested in joining our network of over 160 councils, catchment management authorities, organisations and flood risk professionals, visit floods.org.au/membership.
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AUSTRALIAN FLOOD BARRIER INDUSTRY GUIDELINES
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As discussed at the Online FMA Meeting, Corporate Member AWMA Water Control Solutions has sought FMA support for development of Australian Flood Barrier Industry Guidelines, which would set out minimum principles and practices for flood barriers covering design, manufacture, performance, safety, operation and maintenance.
FMA Technical Director Danny Rose said the Executive Committee considers the proposal has merit, however FMA cannot be perceived to be supporting a particular commercial product or supplier, so the guidelines would need to be generic.
Also, FMA advocates for wise land use planning, and would not be endorsing flood barriers as a means for otherwise unsuitable development to go ahead in flood prone areas.
AWMA’s General Manager – Screens & Flood Barriers, Peter Ebenwaldner, said the key issues include:
- The Australian flood barrier industry is in a development phase with strong growing demand
- Flood barriers are supplied from a few local manufacturers and imported products
- Flood barrier applications include commercial and residential buildings with underground carparks or basements
- Demountable barriers are installed to redirect large volumes of water around towns, wide crossings or for temporary protection
- While some Councils do accept flood barriers, others are unaware of the technology and may reject planning applications simply due to uncertainty.
If you have comments on development of the proposed guidelines or are interested in joining a Working Group to further explore the issue please contact Glenn Evans: [email protected]
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NEW QUEENSLAND FLOOD EVACUATION GUIDE
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The Queensland Government has released a new State guideline: Flood Evacuation Route Improvements.
The Guideline outlines an options assessment process that supports decision making in relation to flood evacuation route improvements. The Guideline can be used to inform flood risk management activities, and has been designed to be used by local governments, state agencies and Queensland’s disaster management groups.
Support materials include an MS excel-based RSA Flood Evacuation Supporting Tool and a worked example to assist users in undertaking the options assessment process outlined in the Guideline.
These products were delivered as an initiative of the Brisbane River Strategic Floodplain Management Plan, and are designed for use throughout Queensland.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) led development of the documents in partnership with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA), through a collaborative process with other Queensland Government agencies, Brisbane City Council, Ipswich City Council, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council, Seqwater, universities, private practitioners and other key
stakeholders.
The Guideline and supporting materials are available at QRA’s website.
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CONSULTATION ON NSW DAM SAFETY REGULATION 2019
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Dams Safety NSW is seeking feedback on proposed changes to the Dams Safety Regulation 2019 that are aimed at making it more efficient to administer the Dams Safety Act 2015 and
strengthen dam safety management aspects of the regulation.
The proposed changes include:
- declared dam owners will be required to nominate an individual for ensuring compliance with their dam’s safety management system
- a competent person will be required to carry out risk rating calculations and an independent competent person will be required to check the calculations for high and extreme consequence dams and
- for high or extreme consequence category dams, a panel of competent persons will be required to:
- undertake safety reviews
- undertake a review of safety reviews
- check work involving dam designs.
Submissions on the proposed changes can be made to Dams Safety NSW at [email protected] by September 10.
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RESOURCES FOR DISASTER RECOVERY
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The Recovery Capitals (ReCap) Project has released a set of resources to support people, organisations and governments engaged in disaster recovery. ReCap is a collaboration between the University of Melbourne, Massey University New Zealand, Australian Red Cross, and other researchers, government and
non-government agencies and organisations from Australia and New Zealand.
The Guide to Disaster Recovery Capitals (ReCap Guide) aims to support wellbeing after disasters by providing evidence-based guidance to aid decision making, encouraging strengths-based, holistic and inclusive approaches to recovery. The guide identifies seven areas of recovery – natural, social, financial, cultural, political, built and human –
and emphasises the interconnectedness between these ‘recovery capitals’. It is available at www.recoverycapitals.org.au.
The project team included Professor Lisa Gibbs, University of Melbourne, who was a Keynote Speaker at the 2016 FMA Conference. Associate Professor Mel Taylor, Macquarie University, who spoke on Development of National Messaging for Flood Safety at the 2021 FMA National Conference, was a Contributing Partner for the project.
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So much is happening with our YFM Chapters throughout Australia!
Firstly, the YFM launched our Instagram account this month (@yfm.australia) - follow us to hear about upcoming events and much much more.
NSW have welcomed 4 new committee members - Alex Nero, Michelle Supangat, Kieran Smith and Maddy Harty, we're excited to have you on the team and can't wait to see what you bring to the YFM.
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Pictured: August YFM Social event in Brisbane.
QLD had another successful social event after the FMA Quarterly Meeting on Thursday 26th August. We are planning a walking tour around Brisbane in November and will have several speakers including Margaret Cook to share stories of the 2011 Brisbane River flooding. More details on this to come soon.
VIC have been bedding down their structure and committee members as well as working hard to organise some future events. The first being held online at the end of September, watch this space for more info!
Finally, if you’re advertising a Flood or Stormwater job opportunity or event on Linkedin, tag us in your post (FMA Young Floodplain Managers) and we'll share it if it benefits our members.
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The FMA Flyer reaches a wide range of industry professionals from Australia and overseas, and if you have any recent projects or exciting news we would love to share it with our readers.
Send through details of your stories and we can include them in our upcoming issues by contacting [email protected].
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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
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No current vacancies.
If you are interested in promoting a vacant position with us, please contact us.
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TRAVELLING CAPS AND BEANIES
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Do you have an FMA Cap or Beanie photo you'd like to share with Flyer readers?
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