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02 March 2022
Playground put to first flood test BY ALEX PURCELL WHEN floodwaters inundated Cooroy’s almost-finished multi-million dollar playground last week, the site flooded as “modelled and predicted”. Hundreds of millimetres of rain was dumped on Cooroy, submerging equipment and infrastructure at the Lower Mill site. Noosa Council Director of Infrastructure Services Larry Sengstock said given the extent of the rainfall, the site “flooded as modelled and predicted” with much of the floodwaters receding once the heavy rain eased. “The site drains very quickly as the creek recedes and initial assessments indicate that this is exactly what occurred this time,” he said. A flood assessment prepared for Noosa Council in 2019 for the Hinterland Adventure Playground found Cooroy Creek flooding is the “dominant source of flooding at the Lower Mill site” and noted Cooroy Creek has a “relatively short response time, meaning that flooding can occur without much warning”. Cooroy Chamber of Commerce President Chris Bell said the speed at which floodwaters from Cooroy Creek rose was so fast they had to evacuate caravans from the RV Stopover on the other side of the creek from the Lower Mill site. “We had to move all the vans to the sports complex during the night.” Evacuated RV Stop Over visitors Pete and Audrey Haynes have thanked emergency services and the Cooroy community for their assistance. “Thank you to the emergency services, in particular a young man who walked into the water to show us the depth as the road was covered, that came and evacuated us from the Cooroy
Cooroy was awash with fast-flowing floodwaters last week after more than 144mm fell on February 23, the start of at least three days of rain.
RV park. “Also thank you to the Cooroy community for allowing us to stay at the sports complex and Chris, who came out to check how everyone was. "What a great town. We’ll definitely be back.” Cooroy Hire Service owner Max Arbuthnot said in the 20 years he has had his shop on Maple St, he has witnessed the Lower Mill site underwater two to three times. At a Special Meeting in January 2021 to discuss plans for the playground, the view of Council’s
consulting hydraulic engineer that “elimination of the flood hazard at the site” was not possible, was addressed. Therefore, Council developed a Hinterland Playground Flood Risk Assessment and Emergency Management Plan (FRAEMP), in the event of a flood when the park opens. This includes an automatic audible and visual flood warning system to alert visitors to evacuate the site as soon as floodwaters begin to inundate the playground.
Cooroy Car Parts owner Mouette van Diggelen said it was sad this has happened, just weeks out from the playground officially opening. “They were only weeks away from finishing and now this, it’s pretty sad. “Two bobcats are underwater and apparently things have been washed away. "Who knows what the damage is?” At the time of printing, Mr Sengstock said it was too early to deter-
mine the extent of the damage or whether the flooding would delay the official opening. “Our staff and contractors will make those assessments once this rain event is finished.” With the $4.1 million Adventure Playground still under construction, Mr Sengstock said it was hoped the damage from the flood would be limited. Construction of the Hinterland Adventure Playground began in April 2021 and should be completed by the end of March 2022.
Cooroy Rag, 02 March 2022 - Page
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