Residents point fingers at Flemington Racecourse flood wall for Maribyrnong flooding
- Replies 7
The recent ferocious storm that swept central and eastern Australia has left thousands of residents to clean up the damage that their homes and community endured due to the major floods… And the heartbreak over the loss has turned into fury. This led to a controversial wall built around Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse to be the centre of a potential class action suit.
Maribyrnong residents are now plagued with weeks of picking up the pieces after a recent cyclone caused massive floods in the area – and Ken Lee is one of them.
Lee has previously witnessed the 1974 and 1993 flooding but claimed that he has never seen anything like the current disaster.
‘This is the first time the floods have reached my property. It's the retaining wall.’ Lee said.
‘We haven’t experienced any flooding before that, and neither did this street.’
Flemington Racecourse remains relatively green and dry compared to the rest of the suburb and its surroundings.
Darlene Ciaffaglione, who has resided in the area for 44 years, shared her frustrations with the situation.
‘I think that people's lives are worth more than the horse race, even 15 horse races. Their lives are in the streets right now.’ Ciaffaglione exclaimed.
Geoff Crapper spent 31 years working at Melbourne Water as a Hydrology and Flood Warning Expert. He claimed that the issues he raised nearly 20 years ago weren't taken seriously.
‘I warned the government that they needed to do something about the flooding at Maribyrnong.’ Geoff said. ‘It was always going to happen again, it was just a matter of when.’
Geoff added that the entire Maribyrnong community was enraged at the time.
‘They knew that annexing about 1.2 million cubic meters of floodwater off the river meant it had to go somewhere.’ he said.
A Melbourne Water spokesperson said that they'll be investigating the cause of the Maribyrnong flood.
The spokesperson added that the construction of the flood wall was subject to a ‘range of flood mitigation measures’ and the ‘Victorian Racing Club's ongoing maintenance and management’.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews supported Melbourne Water's initiative to review the cause.
‘I've got confidence in them and we'll get those reports back. We can make assessments at that point.’ Andrews said.
But not everyone is in favour of Melbourne Water conducting the review. Geoff argued that it should be an independent review.
‘We don't need someone at arm's length from the government to do it and Melbourne Water is a government authority.’ he said.
Geoff also pointed out his belief that Melbourne Water needs to ‘take a hard look at itself’ after the Rivervue Retirement Village was taken over by the Maribyrnong River surge.
He explained that the Rivervue Retirement Village is only a few years old and flooding should've been taken into heavy consideration.
‘It’s a total failure of Melbourne Water. There's no one else to blame with this one.’
Melbourne legal firm Carbone Lawyers recently announced that it’s looking into a potential class action against the Victorian Racing Club's wall.
Lawyer John Karantziz revealed that more than 50 homes in the Flemington area were closed and damaged due to the Victorian Racing Club's wall.
‘It's early days, however, Carbone Lawyers are investigating a potential class action.’ Karantziz said.
Those interested in joining a potential Flemington Wall Class Action can opt to get in touch with Carbone Lawyers.
Statement from Victorian Racing Club's Chief Executive Officer Steve Rosich:
‘Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by this extraordinary weather event that has caused flooding across Victoria. The Victoria Racing Club will fully cooperate with Melbourne Water as they conduct a review into the Maribyrnong River flood event.’
Statement from Melbourne Water:
‘Emergency flood response activities are still underway and remain the priority. Melbourne Water will undertake a review of any possible impacts of constructed assets in the flood plain, including the Flemington flood wall.’
‘The construction of the flood wall was subject to a range of additional flood mitigation measures as well as the Victoria Racing Club's ongoing maintenance and management of these assets.’
Statement from the Maribyrnong Council:
‘The Council has welcomed the Government's request for Melbourne Water to undertake a review of the flood wall erected around the Flemington Racecourse in the wake of this week's flooding.’
‘Mayor Cr Anthony Tran said that while the Council's efforts are devoted to supporting the clean-up, it welcomes any reviews or investigations that might assist in managing these kinds of events in the future.’
What are your thoughts about this issue? Should the Flemington Racecourse wall be blamed for the flooding? Let us know in the comments.
Learn more about this case by watching the video below:
Source: A Current Affair
Maribyrnong residents are now plagued with weeks of picking up the pieces after a recent cyclone caused massive floods in the area – and Ken Lee is one of them.
Lee has previously witnessed the 1974 and 1993 flooding but claimed that he has never seen anything like the current disaster.
‘This is the first time the floods have reached my property. It's the retaining wall.’ Lee said.
‘We haven’t experienced any flooding before that, and neither did this street.’
Flemington Racecourse remains relatively green and dry compared to the rest of the suburb and its surroundings.
Melbourne residents are blaming Flemington Racecourse for the floods. Source: news.com.au
Darlene Ciaffaglione, who has resided in the area for 44 years, shared her frustrations with the situation.
‘I think that people's lives are worth more than the horse race, even 15 horse races. Their lives are in the streets right now.’ Ciaffaglione exclaimed.
Geoff Crapper spent 31 years working at Melbourne Water as a Hydrology and Flood Warning Expert. He claimed that the issues he raised nearly 20 years ago weren't taken seriously.
‘I warned the government that they needed to do something about the flooding at Maribyrnong.’ Geoff said. ‘It was always going to happen again, it was just a matter of when.’
Geoff added that the entire Maribyrnong community was enraged at the time.
‘They knew that annexing about 1.2 million cubic meters of floodwater off the river meant it had to go somewhere.’ he said.
A Melbourne Water spokesperson said that they'll be investigating the cause of the Maribyrnong flood.
The spokesperson added that the construction of the flood wall was subject to a ‘range of flood mitigation measures’ and the ‘Victorian Racing Club's ongoing maintenance and management’.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews supported Melbourne Water's initiative to review the cause.
Maribyrnong Road Jetty flooded. Source: ABC
‘I've got confidence in them and we'll get those reports back. We can make assessments at that point.’ Andrews said.
But not everyone is in favour of Melbourne Water conducting the review. Geoff argued that it should be an independent review.
‘We don't need someone at arm's length from the government to do it and Melbourne Water is a government authority.’ he said.
Geoff also pointed out his belief that Melbourne Water needs to ‘take a hard look at itself’ after the Rivervue Retirement Village was taken over by the Maribyrnong River surge.
He explained that the Rivervue Retirement Village is only a few years old and flooding should've been taken into heavy consideration.
‘It’s a total failure of Melbourne Water. There's no one else to blame with this one.’
Melbourne legal firm Carbone Lawyers recently announced that it’s looking into a potential class action against the Victorian Racing Club's wall.
John Karantziz revealed that a potential class action could emerge. Source: A Current Affair
Lawyer John Karantziz revealed that more than 50 homes in the Flemington area were closed and damaged due to the Victorian Racing Club's wall.
‘It's early days, however, Carbone Lawyers are investigating a potential class action.’ Karantziz said.
Those interested in joining a potential Flemington Wall Class Action can opt to get in touch with Carbone Lawyers.
‘Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by this extraordinary weather event that has caused flooding across Victoria. The Victoria Racing Club will fully cooperate with Melbourne Water as they conduct a review into the Maribyrnong River flood event.’
Statement from Melbourne Water:
‘Emergency flood response activities are still underway and remain the priority. Melbourne Water will undertake a review of any possible impacts of constructed assets in the flood plain, including the Flemington flood wall.’
‘The construction of the flood wall was subject to a range of additional flood mitigation measures as well as the Victoria Racing Club's ongoing maintenance and management of these assets.’
Statement from the Maribyrnong Council:
‘The Council has welcomed the Government's request for Melbourne Water to undertake a review of the flood wall erected around the Flemington Racecourse in the wake of this week's flooding.’
‘Mayor Cr Anthony Tran said that while the Council's efforts are devoted to supporting the clean-up, it welcomes any reviews or investigations that might assist in managing these kinds of events in the future.’
What are your thoughts about this issue? Should the Flemington Racecourse wall be blamed for the flooding? Let us know in the comments.
Learn more about this case by watching the video below:
Source: A Current Affair
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