By Casey Neill
Rain water has been inundating a Noble Park North court for the past 10 years but there’s no solution in sight.
Roulston Court residents are fed up with the flooding, Greater Dandenong councillor Maria Sampey told the Tuesday 13 June meeting.
“The residents feel that they’re not even being taken any notice of,” she said.
“Any time there’s a bit of a downpour, there’s flooding.”
Cr Sampey provided the Journal with an email from one resident, who did not want to be named, detailing the situation.
He has been lodging complaints since 2007 and has been extremely disappointed with the response, “particularly when we hear from council managers we could be 20 to 30 years away from what seems like forever shifting goalposts”.
The resident said the council told them the problem was “mid-level” and was 30th or so in the queue for repair.
“Clearly this is not acceptable,” he said.
He told Cr Sampey that sometimes the water did not subside for five days.
“The resident does not want to say anything because he seems to think that it might jeopardise him by making it public,” she said.
The council’s engineering services director Julie Reid said Roulston Court had been the subject of occasional localised flooding in the past.
She said modelling showed that dwelling inundation was unlikely to occur.
“This flooding has largely been attributed to blockages that have occurred in the drainage systems,” she said.
“On each occasion when these blockages have been identified, the drainage system has been unblocked and returned to a satisfactory working state.”
Ms Reid said the council also installed an additional grated pit at the low point of the court bowl two years ago.
“This has reduced the likelihood of further blockages in the drainage system,” she said.
“The council uses a risk-based approach to prioritise drainage upgrade works.
“This takes into account the likelihood of flooding and the resulting financial consequences of such events on residents and the community.
“Dwellings that are subject to inundation are considered high priority due to the impact it has on the community.”
