Mitchell Shire Council will not continue the Seymour Flood Levee Project.
Council made the decision on Monday 29 June at a Council Meeting which saw the Seymour Flood Levee – Future Directions Report 2020 tabled to Councillors. The report outlined safety, legal advice, costs, the impacts the levee could have on economic stimulus within Seymour, its impacts on future land use as well as taking into account community feedback at the end of 2019.
While the proposed Seymour Levee was considered to be a ‘multi-generational project’ aimed at protecting the town’s CBD from a 1-in-100-year event, Council determined that the implications and risks associated with the project were too high to warrant further progression.
The implementation of a flood mitigation project of this scale on a waterway like the Goulburn River is a complex undertaking with significant financial and planning impacts.
Council will now prepare a report outlining the implications this decision will have on the adopted Seymour Structure Plan which currently references the Flood Levee Project. The Structure Plan will be amended, and a report will be tabled at a future meeting.
The Seymour Flood Levee Mitigation Project was originally adopted at the Ordinary Council Meeting on 25 October 2010. Since then, planning and design work was progressed, and a number of reports, consultations and grant agreements have been undertaken.
In July 2019, Council resolved to appoint an independent community engagement consultant to engage the Seymour community about a proposed flood levee on the Goulburn River.
