Yarra Council last night agreed to my motion to ask Melbourne Water and the State and Federal Government to DO BETTER.
(1) Explain to residents in the City of Yarra why their home is now in a flood zone through no fault of their own.
(2) Provide more time to deal with it.
(3) Support the process to object to object to their inclusion in a flood zone.
(4) Fund the upgrade of the drains to support the doubling of the population by 2050 and deal with climate change.
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The full motion put to Council last night is …
I, Councillor Gomez, hereby give notice that it is my intention to move the following motion at the Ordinary Meeting of Council to be held on Tuesday 14 October 2025:
That Council:
1. That following the release of updated flood maps for the City of Yarra by Melbourne Water on 3 October 2025 impacting over 20,000 properties, requests the Chief Executive Officer write to the General Manager, Melbourne Water requesting that Melbourne Water;
(a) Immediately publish the methodology used by Melbourne Water for the updated flood maps including, but not limited to, the hydrological model used to create runoff hydrographs and how this was used to ascertain flow dynamics through the City of Yarra;
(b) Extend the community engagement period to the end of December 2025 to provide additional time for community consultation on the updated flood maps;
(c) Confirm in writing that the final updated Year 2025 flood map, and not the Year 2100 flood map, will be the flood map used for the Planning Scheme Amendment to be imposed on the City of Yarra by the Minister for Planning;
(d) Confirm in writing that Melbourne Water will contact all owner/occupiers of the properties impacted by the Year 2100 flood map in writing; and
(e) Immediately make publicly available, more information outlining of the types of matters able to be relied upon by a resident of Yarra to object to their property being classified as subject to flooding on the updated flood maps, including at least one example.
2. Updates Council’s Advocacy Roadmap to include pursuing financial assistance from the Commonwealth and State Governments to fund improvements to Council infrastructure
aimed at reducing the impact of flooding on assets and safety risks and to further increase the preparedness of Council infrastructure and City of Yarra residents against the risk of flooding.
Councillor Ken Gomez