Seymour Flood Levee - landowners survey

A Council meeting to consider a future directions report was held on Monday 29 June 2020 where a decision was made to stop the Seymour Flood Mitigation Project (levee).

While the proposed Seymour Flood Levee was considered to be a ‘multi-generational project’ aimed at protecting the town’s CBD from a 1-in-100-year event, we decided that the implications and risks associated with the project were too high to warrant further progression.

The report outlined safety, legal advice, costs, the impacts the levee could have on economic stimulus within Seymour, its impacts on future land use as well as taking into account community feedback at the end of 2019.

You read more on Council's website.

A recording of the meeting is also available. You can watch it on Council's website (29 June meeting).

A Council meeting to consider a future directions report will be held from 7pm on Monday 29 June.

This meeting is closed to the public due to COVID restrictions and can be viewed live online.

Agenda

You can view upcoming agendas on the website. It is anticipated the Directions Report will be available on Thursday 25 June.

Watch meeting online

You can view the Council Meeting via the meeting section of our website. The meeting will be livestreamed from 7pm. A recording will also be available as soon as possible after the meeting.

Unable to go online? Call Mitchell Shire’s Governance Team on 5734 6200 to discuss your needs.

An engagement report was presented to the April 2020 Council meeting providing a summary of the 2019 consultation.

Download the report in the documents section here or on our website (under Past Agendas and Minutes > April 2020 minutes and agenda).

The report presents the findings of the independent community engagement process for the proposed Seymour Flood Levee.

In July 2019, Council resolved to appoint an independent community engagement consultant to engage the Seymour community about a proposed flood levee on the Goulburn River.

Specifically, Council sought feedback to understand the level of community support for the flood levee and to gauge community views on the fairest way to fund the infrastructure project.

The engagement program also sought feedback specifically from landowners in the benefitting area to understand if they firstly, supported a flood levee and secondly, if they would be willing to help contribute funding through a Special Charge Scheme.

Mitchell Shire Council is inviting landowners to give their feedback on the proposed flood levee on the Goulburn River which would protect Seymour from a large-scale flood event.

Large areas of Seymour are built on the Goulburn River Floodplain and the township of Seymour has a long history of damaging flood events. In the event that a large-scale (1-in-100 year) flood of the Goulburn River occurs, it is estimated that more than 300 properties could be impacted.

During such an event, a large part of Seymour's commercial business centre activities and essential services, including the hospital and police station would be impacted along with many residential properties.

In addition to providing physical flood protection, a levee could provide opportunities to rezone land that is currently subject to development controls due to flooding.

A levee also offers opportunities to construct new shared use paths and community spaces, expanding the network of off-road recreational paths and linkages throughout Seymour.

A maintenance path built on the crest of the proposed levee would provide these expanded recreational opportunities.

Council’s planning and investigative works estimate the levee would cost around $20 million.

Council has already secured $6 million of government funding and continues to advocate to close the shortfall in funding.

Given the current funding gap and Council’s on-going advocacy for project funding, Council wants to determine if the project should progress or not.

In order to make an informed decision, we are currently consulting with the wider community to understand the level of support for a flood levee for Seymour.

Council is also keen to understand if landowners who will benefit from the construction of a levee are willing to contribute funding for the levee if no further funds can be contributed by other levels of Government.

Council has developed a comprehensive engagement process and is now asking the Seymour community to provide their feedback on the proposed levee.

We are also engaging with landowners who would receive a flood protection benefit from the proposed levee, on whether or not they would be willing to contribute funding for the levee if no further funds can be contributed by other levels of Government.

Benefitting landowners have been sent a letter detailing how they are able to have their say on the levee as well as potential funding options through the survey found on this page.

These letters contain a unique code which has been assigned to each benefitting property. This code is required when filling out the survey to ensure that Council is confident that landowners have had their say on potential funding options which are being explored.

To find out if you are a landowner of a property that would receive a flood protection benefit from the levee, you can view the flood protection zone map on the right of this page.

Talk to a member of the team

Community drop-in sessions are also taking place where the public can learn more about the project, ask any questions they may have and speak to the project team.

• Saturday 5 October, 9am -4pm, Seymour Show, Kings Park, 55 Tallarook Street, Seymour (please note the show has an entry cost)
• Thursday 10 October, 2–4pm, Chittick Park Community Place, Pollard Street, Seymour
• Tuesday 15 October, 3-7pm, Chittick Park Community Place, Pollard Street, Seymour

You can also speak to a member of the team by calling 5734 6200 and selecting option 4, Seymour Levee.

Community consultation will close on Friday 25 October at 5pm.

Once Council has reviewed the feedback received, a report of these findings will be available for the community.

Council will take the feedback received into account when determining whether to progress the levee or not.

If it is determined the Council will proceed with the levee, further consultation will take place to refine the final design, as well as engaging with benefitting landowners on potential funding options.