What is a flood risk management plan?
Flood Risk Management Plans are part of the flood risk management process set out by the NSW Government in the Flood Plain Development Manual.
This project builds on the work completed as part of the Tamworth City-Wide Flooding Investigation finalised in 2019 and the East and North Tamworth Drainage Study finalised in 2021.
The Flood Risk Management Plan recommends options that will guide future flood mitigation work in Tamworth.
This plan is specific to Tamworth city. Flood Risk Management Plans have already been completed for many of the villages (Nundle, Woolomin, Manilla, Bendemeer, Barraba) over the last 10 years.
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Report recommendations
Pump behind the levee bank
- This option proposes the installation of pumps at three locations to facilitate the drainage of local ponding behind the levee into the Peel River. The locations included: Peel Street, adjacent to Viaduct Park, north of the Railway Viaduct, The park adjacent to the intersection of Peel Street and Darling Street, Bicentennial Park, south of Bridge Street and west of Kable Avenue.
Computerised flood gates
- Currently, there are manually operated flood gates on the stormwater pipes that drain flood water from inside the levee into the Peel River. As these flood gates are manually operated, they are closed in advance of a flood event occurring. This option proposes to install computerised control on the flood gates. This would allow the gates to be opened for longer before the river rises and allow more local overland flood water to discharge into the river.
Update development controls
- This option proposes to expand the current Flood Planning Area, which manages development in areas prone to flooding. This means some additional properties will now be included in the Flood Planning Area. These properties will be contacted directly.
Early warning system
- This option proposes an early warning system be developed for some of the mid-sized creeks within the study area, including Goonoo Goonoo Creek (this excludes the Peel River system as this is already covered by the Bureau of Meteorology’s warning system). A flood warning would be issued via a geo-targeted emergency alert, with a pre-recorded telephone voice message to landline phones and text messages to mobile phones within a defined area.
Voluntary house raising
- Voluntary house raising is a property modification measure wherein a house is raised above the minimum flood design level.
Flood education programs
- Council could increase flood awareness within the community through a flood education program that includes flood information provided on Council’s website and social media pages, as well as information flyers included in the distribution of Council rates or a more general letterbox drop.
This options aims control overland flows through North and East Tamworth. Basins located within Victoria Park, TAFE Tamworth and at the top of Murray Street would act as temporary water storage for flows that cannot be conveyed in the existing drainage systems. These Basins would fill during a storm event and drain over a few hours after an event.
Previous community consultation
A community consultation process was undertaken in July and August 2020. The purpose of this community consultation work was to gather data from the community regarding their views on flood response and flood mitigation strategies.
As part of this community consultation a newsletter and questionnaire were distributed, and a community drop-in meeting was held. The community drop-in meeting was held at the Tamworth Community Centre on Darling Street on the 23 July 2020 between 3pm and 7pm. The community meeting was attended by representatives from HydroSpatial and Council, in addition to occupants from approximately a dozen properties.
Following on from the community drop-in meeting, 136 written responses were received.
From the responses, it was found that the most popular mitigation strategies were to apply development controls to new developments in flood affected area, and the upgrade of major drainage pipes or channels within residential and commercial areas.
