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Environment and Sustainability Committee Meeting Agenda |
29 November 2022 |
This matter has been determined to be of a significant nature and approval has been given to refer this report to the Environment and Sustainability Committee as a late item.
ITEM: 5
SUBJECT: Response to Mayoral Motion - Review of the Feburary/March 2022 Flood Event
AUTHOR: Emergency Management and Sustainability Manager
DATE: 28 November 2022
This is a report to provide a response to the Mayoral Motion to undertake a review of the February 2022 flood event including public participation resolved at Council’s Ordinary Meeting of 21 April 2022.
A. That Council adopt the ‘Flood Review 2022 – Strategic Review Report and Operational Review Report’ as detailed in Attachments 1 and 2’.
B. That the report be presented to the City of Ipswich Local Disaster Management Group and the City of Ipswich Local Recovery and Resilience Group.
C. That the Chief Executive Officer be authorised to develop resourcing, implementation, and monitoring arrangements in relation to Recommendation A.
RELATED PARTIES
The following were key parties to the Flood Review 2022:
· Articulous Pty Ltd – facilitated community consultations
· Phoenix Resilience Pty Ltd – analysed all relevant information, undertook consultation with key stakeholders and produced the final report
ifuture Theme
A Trusted and Leading Organisation
Purpose of Report/Background
At the Ordinary Council Meeting On the 21st April 2022, it was resolved that Council undertake a review of the 2022 flood event, including public participation and submissions, by:
a) Publishing a Flood Review 2022, including preparation, planning, the emergency response, and communications effectiveness.
b) Conduct public forums and seek residents’ feedback on all aspects of the flood event, including, but not limited to, preparation, emergency response, post-event response, and future flood mitigation measures.
c) That submissions and public hearings be made public, except where privacy or operational sensitivity requires confidentiality, in the interests of transparency.
d) Develop a final report and plan of action for Council consideration, including suggested actions for all levels of government, before the December 2022 Ordinary Council meeting.
On the 24 February 2022, days prior to the flood event Council adopted the Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan (IICP). The IICP was the culmination of over 2.5 years of work across multiple departments and is the most detailed and comprehensive flood study ever undertaken by council. The Plan is intended to ensure the Ipswich community is ready, informed, and resilient ahead of the next flood event. Community consultations and forums were undertaken through the development of the IICP.
The outcome of the plan is in depth and detailed technical evidence report supporting six chapters of work across: land use and planning; physical mitigation; community awareness and resilience; emergency management; property specific actions; current and future flood risk. Each chapter is connected and yet each is focused on addressing a different aspect of floodplain management. It is presently a national exemplar for integrated planning and generating interest from other regions, state and industry. The IICP includes an Actions List/Investment Strategy with 72 recommendations. A copy of the resolution and the plan is published on Council’s public facing website.
There are strong links between the recommendations identified in the IICP Actions List/Investment Strategy and those identified in the Flood Review 2022. This creates great opportunity for council to deliver on both significant pieces of work in a planned and consistent manner which supports the extensive technical and community consultation that has been undertaken throughout both projects.
The timing of the Council Flood Review 2022, including community consultation, intended to avoid overlap with the South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding February to March 2022 Review conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of Emergency Management (IGEM), which was delivered across the disaster management sector including the 23 affected local governments (pursuant to the IGEM functions outlined in Section 16C of the Disaster Management Act 2003).
Council was able to adopt an agile approach throughout both reviews, acting on feedback within current resourcing. Examples of this include but are not limited to:
· Reconstruction and refurbishment of flood gauges throughout the city
· Survey of flood gauges and provision of this information to the Bureau of Meteorology
· Establishment of a temporary flood monitoring camera network and progression of the permanent flood monitoring camera network
· Update the technology to the Disaster Dashboard to allow multiple hazard specific dashboard and custom content
· Finalisation of the Citywide Resilience Leadership Program which has worked with the Ipswich Community Centre Leaders Network to build up their resilience and capability.
· Evacuation centre training with Council staff, community centres/groups and other agencies
· Evacuation centre functional exercise at the Ipswich Showgrounds
· Disaster Communications training facilitated by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
· Development of a Works and Field Services Branch Emergency Response Plan
· Establishment of an internal disaster and emergency operations knowledge hub to allow easy access to corporate knowledge
· Conduct of an extensive education campaign involve shopping centre pop ups, flooding risk community talks and social media
The Flood Review 2022 is contained within two parts:
1. Strategic Review Report (Attachment 1)
2. Operational Review Report (Attachment 2)
Legal/Policy Basis
This report and its recommendations are consistent with the following legislative provisions:
Local Government Act 2009
Disaster Management Act 2003
Disaster Management Regulation 2014
RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
Reputational risk may be realised following the publishing the Flood Review 2022, which is a requirement of the Mayoral Motion, in the form of perceived failings of council at the various insights and observations contained within. However, the identification of areas for improvement is inherent in a robust lessons’ management process, thus it is considered an acceptable risk that in fact demonstrates council’s commitment to continuous improvement. Further, this risk can be mitigated with an implementation plan, as proposed in Recommendation C of this report, to ensure those areas for improvement are acted upon.
Operational risk may be realised if the recommendations of the Flood Review 2022 are not implemented in a timely manner, with the potential for those same or similar areas for improvement being observed in future disaster events impacting Ipswich. However, it must be noted that in order to achieve high quality and sustainable outcomes, timely implementation must be balanced with considered and systemic changes which are unlikely to be observable in the very short term.
Progress against recommendations in the short term is also slowed by the necessary focus of efforts on the operational demands of the current disaster season which is expected to continue through March/April 2023. The resourcing, implementation plan and monitoring arrangements referenced at Recommendation C of this report, which will be mapped and negotiated in the near future, goes some way to mitigating this risk.
HUMAN RIGHTS IMPLICATIONS
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HUMAN RIGHTS IMPACTS |
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OTHER DECISION |
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(a) What is the Act/Decision being made? |
A. That the report be approved and adopted as Council ‘February 2022 Flood Review.’ B. That the report be presented to the City of Ipswich of Ipswich Local Disaster Management Group and the City of Ipswich Local Recovery and Resilience Group C. That the Chief Executive Officer be authorised to develop resourcing, implementation, and monitoring arrangements in relation to Recommendation A |
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(b) What human rights are affected? |
No human rights are affected by this decision.
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(c) How are the human rights limited? |
Not applicable
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(d) Is there a good reason for limiting the relevant rights? Is the limitation fair and reasonable? |
Not applicable
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(e) Conclusion |
The decision is consistent with human rights. |
Financial/RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
The direct costs related to the community consultation and conduct of the Flood Review 2022 are $90,327. This value includes forum facilitation costs, forum venue hire, forum advertising/promotion, forum catering and the costs of the third party reviewer.
The financial and resourcing implications related to this implementation of the Flood Review 2022 report have not been quantified and ideally would be achieved through the annual operational planning and budgeting process. It is anticipated that an implementation plan, including resourcing, will be developed following adoption of the Flood Review 2022.
COMMUNITY and OTHER CONSULTATION
In delivering the Flood Review 2022 the following consultation was undertaken:
· Development of a community facing Shape Your Ipswich website (1,143 page visitors)
· Community based survey (102 respondents)
· Delivery of four independently facilitated community forums held at East Ipswich, Goodna, Karalee, and Rosewood
· Surveys and face to face debriefs with disaster management stakeholders, Council staff and elected representatives
The following key roles were provided with a draft report for feedback:
· Local Disaster Management Group Chair, Mayor Harding
· Local Recovery and Resilience Group Chair, Councillor Kunzelmann
· Local Recovery and Resilience Group Deputy Chair and Environment and Sustainability Committee Chair, Councillor Milligan
· Deputy Chair, Environment and Sustainability Committee Chair, Councillor Fechner
Conclusion
Though much work has already been undertaken to improve the Ipswich disaster management arrangements since the February Flood of 2022, the Flood Review 2022 outlines further opportunities for improvement. Progressing through the recommendations of the Flood Review 2022, in alignment with the recommendations identified in the IICP Actions List/Investment Strategy, will ensure technical and community consultation is acknowledged and acted upon, and position both Council and the community well for future flood events.
Attachments and Confidential Background Papers
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1. |
Flood Review 2022 - Strategic Review Report ⇩ |
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2. |
Flood Review 2022 - Operational Review Report ⇩ |
Matthew Pinder
Emergency Management and Sustainability Manager
I concur with the recommendations contained in this report.
Kaye Cavanagh
Acting General Manager Infrastructure and Environment
I concur with the recommendations contained in this report.
Sean Madigan
General Manager - Infrastructure and Environment
“Together, we proudly enhance the quality of life for our community”
