“Much to be learnt” from Goondiwindi Region’s disaster preparedness, says new State Recovery Coordinator for Queensland

The Goondiwindi Region has received high praise from the new State Recovery Coordinator for Queensland during a visit to Goondiwindi.

Major General Jake Ellwood DSC, AM, CSC visited Goondiwindi on Thursday [31 March 2022] to assess the impacts of recent flooding, the region’s recovery progress and the community’s preparedness for future disasters.

There is “much to be learnt” from how the community has prepared for and dealt with natural disasters, the Major General said.

“I walked away from Goondiwindi impressed with its resilience, commitment to improvement and its strong community spirit,” he said.

The Major General met with the Mayor of the Goondiwindi Region the Honourable Cr Lawrence Springborg AM along with Council’s Disaster Management and Recovery team to hear about the different impacts and recovery progress across the region.

The Mayor said the visit was an opportunity to advocate for more support for areas such as Inglewood and Texas in particular.

“This visit was an opportunity for the Major General to get a handle of the Goondiwindi Region’s recovery progress so far,” the Mayor said. “We were able to brief the Major General on what recovery efforts Council is already doing, and we also took this opportunity to advocate for more state and federal support for local communities.

“A key focus of the day’s discussion was flood recovery and preparation in Inglewood and upstream of Texas,” Cr Springborg said. “Council was able to share learnings from the November/December 2021 flood with the Major General, and make the case for what improvements are needed.

“In particular, our communities need improved gauge systems and early warning systems for our region’s rivers and waterways, with accurate flood mapping to give them the information they need in times of disaster,” he said. “We also spoke about the need for a more suitable evacuation point in Inglewood, and how we need to look to flood-proof our water and sewerage systems to enable people to shelter in place during a flood event, if safe to do so.”

The Major General joined Cr Springborg and the Disaster Management and Recovery team to inspect various sites along the Goondiwindi levee bank, including the local flood pumps. The historic Goondiwindi levee received high praise from the Major General, who said it was a prime example of how a levee should work and congratulated the invaluable foresight and contribution of Council engineers Bill McNulty and Vern Redmond.

“Seeing firsthand what Goondiwindi has achieved since 1956 is nothing short of amazing,” the Major General said.

Cr Springborg expressed his gratitude to the Major General and said he was looking forward to working with him as the State Recovery and Resilience Plan takes shape.

“Every level of government has a duty to improve the community’s disaster resilience and it’s essential that we work together,” he said. “I am very grateful that the Major General has taken our local knowledge and concerns on board as we look to prepare for future flood events.

“In particular, the Goondiwindi Region’s road network forms a major interstate freight route between Queensland and the southern states – our highways are of state and national importance, not just local,” he said. “And yet many are too vulnerable even to minor wet weather, let alone major flood events.

“We also discussed with Major General Ellwood how, just recently, our residents in Talwood and west of the Leichhardt Highway were cut off for weeks at a time due to flooding and then the ensuing road damage. This is an unfortunate reality for many of our residents, and we raised the importance of improving the road network in that area in order to mitigate the inconvenience caused to communities in such times.”