Melbourne Water says it has “confirmed” its support for a modified development plan for the flood-prone former Kingswood Golf Course at Dingley Village.
Chris Brace, service futures executive general manager at Melbourne Water, said the modifications included “additional drainage infrastructure”.
“Following an extensive engineering review, Melbourne Water has confirmed the modified Kingswood Development Plan appropriately addresses flood risk management and reduces existing flooding impacts for neighbouring properties.”
However, details on the modified plan are not yet public.
The modified plan is not listed on the State Government’s website, which details the planning process and submissions for the controversial 941-dwelling estate.
It still lists a now-outdated hydrology-and-stormwater report from late 2024.
Melbourne Water had long held out from supporting the plan, calling for more information on how developer Satterley would mitigate flooding risks for homes on the site and downstream.
Residents, MPs and Kingston Council, in opposition to the project, had long cited past extreme events that inundated homes and roads.
Most of the 1400 community submissions to the State Government were opposed to the plan.
A disappointed Save Kingswood Group president Kevin Poulter said residents had lobbied Melbourne Water with a report of 60 pages and 300 photographs compiled from 10 years of research.
“Our information is proven by previous events, unlike developer’s consultants who dream up computer modelling.”
“When Save Kingswood finally had a single meeting, our 60 pages of information was ignored and a single engineer said that the retarding dam would be dug deeper,” Poulter said.
“Melbourne Water said Satterley consultants met with them fortnightly, yet we lobbied for a very long time for one meeting.”
He said residents weren’t told of Melbourne Water’s approval until they requested a further meeting.
“Melbourne Water has not responded to our request for their report.”
Currently, without development, more than 80 homes downstream of the golf course are at risk of flooding in a 1-in-100 event.
Prior to the latest modifications, Satterley last year submitted a plan for an estimated 80-90 megalitres of storage to mitigate flooding.
This would be achieved by expanding the Melbourne Water retarding basin from 19 megalitres to 65 megalitres, and buliding two other retarding basins totalling about 24 megalitres.
Citing a potential repeat of the “Maribyrnong disaster”, Poulter was skeptical of the plan that he says is “more than half a billion litres short of the necessary drainage”.
The plan included “destruction of existing flood control measures including hundreds of kilometres of drains, the greens soak, pumping stations, sprinklers, an immense aquifer and some dams”.
“And then replacing them with water collectors like roofs, roads and footpaths.
“When the retarding dam fills, it will be like it is not there and overflows will cause mass destruction.”
Kingston Council has called for a more “balanced and better thought-out plan” for the estate.
Among its concerns was “drainage and flooding risks, especially due to reduced permeable surfaces”.
There were also “unresolved questions around ownership, maintenance and design standards” of drainage.
Its other issues included loss of trees and open space, small lot sizes, increased traffic congestion, a lack of schools, childcare, medical facilities and public transport.
Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny is expected to decide on the development plan this year.
