Thursday 6 March 2008

We told you so

Northern Beaches Warrior sent me these photos, taken at Clifton Beach's Deadman’s Creek today.

Deadman’s Creek runs along behind Glencorp’s Clifton Views, Clifton Road. Council gave Glencorp a dispensation so that they could build right up to the bank of the creek and this is the result.

The dispensation allowed their building alignments to be only 10m from the high water mark. Is this high enough?


  • Deadman’s in FloodThis photo is of Yule Avenue crossing Deadman’s Creek. This is the one and same creek that KB in a Cairns City Council Meeting minimized by calling it a “Drainage Easement” and hence the very controversial ‘North Development’ got the green light. The North Development will be to the right where the open green space now is once work commences.



  • Clifton Views in Flood Glencorp’s controversial high density Clifton Views development with water lapping to building line









  • Clifton Views Inside FloodClifton Views water inside buildings










  • Deadman’s In Flood 2 – scene behind Clifton Views with Deadman’s Creek coming right up to the building line










  • 10m Mark 2 – Council gave Glencorp a dispensation so that the building alignment could be 10m from the high water mark. So much for erosion control measures.









    • 10m Mark Deadman’s Creek in full flood behind Clifton Views.

    19 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    This area was once covered in Meleleucas and acted as a flood plain. The trees are gone but it is a still a flood plain.
    How soon before the owners complain about the water flooding their property and demand Council turn this natural waterway into just another concrete channel.

    Anonymous said...

    What a fiasco! A block of units undergoing construction gets flooded at Clifton Beach. Again, commonsense would argue that you do not allow building alignments within 10m from creeks, especially in North Queensland where we can get heavy downpours that last days and in areas affected by high tidal surges.

    Who is going to pay for flood damage to the buildings and tenants/owners belongings when this happens again once contruction has finished (and this situation will happen again as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow). Perhaps these photos should be sent to every insurer in Queensland with the details, and buyer be beware.

    This Council are obviously incompetent and clearly do not know what they are doing.

    Anonymous said...

    Q100, That doesn’t apply to Glencorp does it?? Not if Sno says that doesn’t have to at least.
    There is also a court ruling that covers this creek (now renamed as a drainage easement by council) if Council or Udo think they are going to make it into a concrete causeway they have another thing coming!
    The funny side of it is the listing of these properties on many real estate sites allow for comment, bye bye sales!

    Anonymous said...

    I hope the prospective Division 10 candidates are reading this, especially poor Bill Phillips-Turner, who has yet to learn, what a useless, incompetent and corrupt team he has joined.

    Bill, this is what happens when you reduce a building alignment to 10m from a creek, and our illustrious and wise Council did this offically in the Cairns Plan late last year, but gave this developer, the dispensation beforehand. I think the results speak for themselves, don't you?

    You poor sod. I almost feel sorry for you!

    Another reason why the residents of Clifton Beach are very angry with this Council's performance in our area. I hope you are getting the true picture now........

    Anonymous said...

    The Northern Beaches suburbs in Cairns were not the only ones flooded yesterday. The new subdivision on the eastern side of Craiglie, near Port Douglas, also flooded. One brand new house had water up to the dining room table!! Obviously Douglas Shire Town Planners were at fault as well. Or perhaps there was just too much rain - perhaps we should speak to God ad humbly ask that he not send us too much rain at one time!

    Anonymous said...

    Go here to see God's answer

    http://www.sundayschoollessons.com/pent2mles.htm

    Pete Johnston
    Independent Candidate
    Division 10

    Anonymous said...

    440mm of rain in a day sure took its toll on Douglas.

    The $3-4M stormwater project in Macrossan and Warner Streets is less than 50% complete, and its completion is anxiously awaited.

    But the flooding of 3 or 4 new homes in a new subdivision in Craiglie is the newest and one of the worst drainage issues, and fortunately, the new subdivision works are still
    under developer maintenance, so the downstream 'creek' blockages can be sourced and sorted before it happens again, with engineers looking at the failings off site that impacted the onsite
    residents. I was there yesterday, and it is not a happy scene, as wet carpets, almost new, are piled in the driveway. 440mm in 24 hours of rain would drown most other parts Oz, and
    gratefully, whilst we get flattened by rain, we also drain faster that other parts of Oz, and life, albeit very damp, goes on. But more and bigger drains, yes, we will be building them for years to come before Douglas can withstand the drenching its got in the last few days.
    Rgds
    Councillor Rod Davis

    Anonymous said...

    The rain we have had in the last few days is not unusual in Cairns and North Queensland. Many times in past years we have been flooded and Captain Highway cut by floodwaters. Is it due to climate change actions or the actions of man?

    What is known is that Councils are unwisley allowing buildings in flood prone areas, ie 10m from creeks as is the case of the CCC and Clifton Views.

    Watch out Division 10 - your turn next. I can just envisage some 5 story Glencorp housing commission unit blocks along the banks of the Daintree in years to come.

    Anonymous said...

    Has Factman got anything to say on Council's behalf about this development and the resultant flooding, cause we would all like to hear it......?

    Anonymous said...

    Bear in mind, that we can expect increased and heavier rainfall in the North in future years. In the 1890s cyclone, the Barron River changed course and swept the original township of Smithfield out to sea. Could the Barron River change course again, with increased rainfall on the Tablelands?? Will increased rain raise our water table?

    Anonymous said...

    CAVEAT EMPTOR...the great cornerstone of "free market" economics.

    Anonymous said...

    Caveat Emptor indeed...

    http://www.glencorp.com.au/

    Can ANYONE find a Web site featuring this "Development"?

    Pete Johnston
    Independent Candidate
    Division 10

    Anonymous said...

    I see Factman is silent for once.
    Cat got your tongue?

    Still waiting for that explanation.........Please explain!

    Anonymous said...

    I don't believe the extra rainfall is necessarily caused by global warming, I remember (30 years ago or so) as a young kid rain patterns similar to the recent. Storms every afternoon that with such heavy rain that street lights would turn on, school ground would be shin deep in clean rain water.

    I think it has been so long since these weather patterns were prevalent that non-locals and even some locals have forgotten, many of the areas that wouldn't have been given a second glance for housing are now wall to wall suburbs.

    Some could argue that developers might deliberately ignore past flooding of areas as well; even more reason to have a governing body looking out for the interests of the residents.

    Wouldn't it be wonderful if the governing body had the benefit of historical records to use as a reference, something I'd have thought would be fairly and squarely a council duty.

    Building 10 metres from a creek on realatively flat ground is complete stupidity.

    Sadly first time buyers and non-locals or those too young to remember will be the victims when they purchase these.

    Not very community minded council, you should be ashamed, picture your own children in this mess you've helped create.

    Anonymous said...

    Factman would only say that they have approved this block of units based on a one in twenty year event.
    I am a NQ born resident of Cairns. I have not lived in Cairns all my life, but, have been in North Queensland from birth. What we are experiencing is what long term residents call, "a normal wet season". Most of the tenants that live in Cairns or NQ where not living here 20 to 30 years ago. This is what we used to get every year. without fail. I would even hazzard to guess that a lot of the councilors where not here 20 to 30 years ago. People have no idea up here what a real wet season can be like.

    Anonymous said...

    I'm a 50 year plus local too. Yes, I recall the long "wet seasons" when inside walls would turn mouldy, when everyone had tinnea in their toes. So, we could be returning to the old weather patterns OR it could be changing weather due to global warming. Whatever, the point is, we can look forward to increased water falls from now on. SO....
    increased water in the rivers, the underground water cachement areas..... We need to think ahead..."Can the Barron River change course?...Will houses subside if the water table rises? Can the underground drains in the CBD cope?"
    I don't know the answer to these questions, the point is, we need to think and plan.

    Anonymous said...

    I must refute the comments made by UDO Jattke, owner of the Clifton Views multiunit complex that was allowed to build 10m from a creek in a low lying area.

    He said "the site had been dammed to stop sediment running into the nearby creek, which had caused a build up of water." This is a misleading and untrue statement. Anyone reading this was led to believe that the sediment ponds alone were responsible for the water overflow.

    Mr Jattke comment's are absolute bollocks!

    The sediment ponds had very little to do with (if anything) with the build up of water. This statement is a blatent lie by Mr Jattke and perpetuated by the Cairns Post.

    The sediments ponds have been created to the east of the site.

    Deadman's Creek rises in the west in the foothills of the Macalister ranges and flows with gravity to the Coral Sea, Clifton Beach. The creek flows from the west about 200m or so before it reaches the sediment ponds on its way to the ocean. 99% of Mr Jaddke's property is before the sediment ponds.

    Residents are getting very tired of being lied to by developers and Council!

    Anonymous said...

    Another Question for Factman. I note he still has not replied to my earlier Qs re Please explain.

    My next Q is re Mr Jack Cowan, the 84 yr old man who has the great misfortune of living next to Clifton Cottages. His house has been flooded several times this week because this developement has huge drainage issues along with manjor construction issues, not to mention that the units are too big for the block of land, but also have been built up so that the site is higher than Mr Cowan's.

    It is outrageous that this Council continues to claim that the water in Mr Cowna's property is coming from elsewhere. Photos will emerge soon dispelling this Council nonsense.

    Anonymous said...

    factman remains locked in his public toliet cubicle and is hoping for a kind stranger to happen along to help him out, though getting him to cum out may be a bit of a job for factman, who by the way is f**king dikwad!