August 1 - Flood Buy-Back Scheme

The MBRC Flood Buy-back Scheme.

Providing relief for residents living in frequently-flooded homes.

As Mayor in 2012, I would introduce the MBRC Flood Buy-Back Scheme to purchase residential houses at risk of frequent flooding.

It would be a voluntary scheme based on the eligibility criteria already in use in Brisbane City Council for their scheme.  The criteria would be similar to the one below:

1. The home is predicted to flood once every two years. This means that the home must be within the extent of a predicted two year average recurrence interval (ARI) flood event, or be proven to have a history of flooding at this recurrence.
2. The property must be in a residential zone.
3. Floodwaters must inundate the residential dwelling on the property.
4. There is no other solution to stop the property flooding.

Residents would apply for voluntary purchase of their residential property under the Flood Buy-Back Scheme by submitting a request in writing.

Council would obtain a valuation from an independent valuer for all properties considered for purchase.   Council and the property owner must agree on a price before the home could be purchased.

Decisions on which properties to purchase would be based on the frequency and depth of predicted flooding.  A property that experiences flooding over the habitable floor will be prioritised higher than a property that experiences flooding over utility areas such as a laundry or garage.

Council would use the latest flooding information being prepared by Council as part of our investigations into the flooding characteristics of local catchments.

Properties purchased under the Flood Buy-Back Scheme may be used by Council for conservation, drainage easements or parklands.

There would be an annual allocation under the Council budget to fund the scheme, and the size of the annual allocation would determine the extent of the scheme for that year.