MyCity Logan has been reporting extensively on new flood mapping for the Logan local government area.
Our council has spent more than $1 million over the past eight months to employ engineers to put together a map of the future, one which would take into account climate change issues in order to more accurately determine what a “one in 100” year flood might look like, and who it might impact.
Council says this is done to keep people safe, and it is fair argument for council to plan for the worst.
Yet, while it might be keeping people safe, it is also costing a lot of people in Logan money.
People are already starting to see insurance premiums rise. Whether or not this is as a direct result of the flood mapping, we don’t know.
Property experts tell us that prices will bounce back. In the meantime, they say, it’s costing the city millions of dollars in wealth and potential development opportunities.
When someone’s house is valued at a lesser amount, it means their equity decreases, as does their borrowing capacity – and the economy suffers.
What we’re being told at present is to suck it up. There is no recourse, no avenue to challenge the mapping unless at our own expense, and importantly a reluctance for council or their contractors to explain how floodlines were drawn the way they were.
MyCity Logan sent councillors a list of questions late last month asking their view on the issue. We received zero – not one – response.
We asked how many properties had been affected. Again, no answer.
It is not us they are ignoring. It is you, the people of Logan who have a right to know how your rates are being spent.
There will inevitably be unhappy people in times of change. But surely, an informed mob of angry people is more inclined to accept the judges’ decision if they are better able to understand how it was determined.
