Goodnight Scrub residents’ access over the Burnett River at Booyal Causeway is to receive one of five new River Height Stations approved by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) as part of its Flood Monitoring and Warning System.
Community Recovery and Resilience Minister David Crisafulli said Bundaberg Regional Council would receive $148,105 to help install five new River Height Stations approved by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) as part of its Flood Monitoring and Warning System.
They will be located at Daveys Drive, Branyan; Booyal Crossing, Booyal; Old Burnett River Bridge, Wallaville; Germanbulyan Creek Bridge, Bungadoo; Cedar Creek Crossing, Cedars Road and will feed live data directly to Council and BOM 24 hours a day.
Local Disaster Management Group will automatically receive alerts if changes to river height levels are detected,” Mr Crisafulli said.
Goodnight Scrub/Morganville Progress Association President Anthony Thomas said residents would welcome improved notifications to check flood levels at the Booyal Causeway as only those directly along the river currently receive notifications from SunWater.
“This is a first step for the Goodnight Scrub and Morganville community, but much more needs to be done,” Mr Thomas said.
“Our community is also affected by flooding of the Perry River and the only River Height Station on the Perry is rarely operational.”
Mr Crisafulli said the Burnett region felt the full force of Mother Nature in January and while we can never entirely flood-proof these areas, we can do a lot more to help them be prepared.
“Local government grants worth nearly $300,000 would expand the Bundaberg region’s flood warning system and complete the first-ever regional flood mitigation study in the North Burnett,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“North Burnett Regional Council will also receive $150,000 towards conducting a flood mitigation study of vulnerable towns including Abercorn, Mundubbera, Monto and Eidsvold.”
Mr Thomas said the community of Goodnight Scrub and Morganville should also be included in a flood mitigation study.
“We are surrounded by the Burnett and Perry Rivers with the Paradise Dam at our back,” said Mr Thomas.
“Raising the Perry River and St Agnes Bridges should be a priority”.
Bundaberg Regional Council Mayor Mal Foreman recently spoke at a community meeting advising residents that both Perry River Bridge and St Agnes Bridge had been put forward to the ‘Betterment Fund’, but there was not enough money to go around.
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