Brian Corless, who lives in Gerringong’s Willowbank Place, is delighted with the positive response to his appearance at what might be the final Open Briefing session, which allowed him to address councillors and staff about his concerns.

He appeared on behalf of residents to ask the councillors to give urgent attention to the Bridges Road (Werri Gully) catchment area recommendations laid out in the Gerringong Flood Study.

Mayor Neil Reilly, who had met with Mr Corless and others just after the 2020 flood to discuss mitigation measures, agrees something needs to be done.

“We waited two years for the study and now it is time for some action," he says.

“Just last week at a Country Mayors Association the Minister for Planning announced more funding and I’m going to follow that up and see what we can do to get mitigation measures in place.

“I’ll be doing my best to getting this moving.”

Until now, residents had only been given a vague promise of even these ‘quick fix’ measures being completed over a number of years, leaving them in limbo and in fear of the next event.

"Some people in the catchment lost their whole house and belongings, while some have been flooded two to three times since then, and the increased anxiety for residents is palpable whenever heavy rain is expected,” said the retired mental health counsellor at Council's July Public Briefing meeting.

In August 2020 Mr Corless lost half of his house at the top of the catchment in a flood that surged across Noble reserve to wreak havoc in streets below [see our report on the damage down hill at the time].

Quoting the Flood Report, he said the likely depth and speed of the water in that area created a risk to life at the highest end of the risk scale.

"The 2020 floods were sufficiently serious for the Kiama LGA to be declared a Natural Disaster area which opened up access for Council to apply for Federal and State funding for the urgent infrastructure works, which is also separate to Council's current budget constraints.

"Two local residents who have engineering qualifications and years of experience in hydraulic engineering, made suggestions for some fairly straight forward engineering fixes immediately after the 2020 flood and these were included in the Consultant's Flood Report, but have not been implemented.

“Doing the work at the top (southern end) of Werri Gully should reduce the amount of floodwater in the system and reduce the risk of further flooding for people downstream at the northern end of the catchment."

The aim is to divert and retain the water before it creates a torrent down Noble Reserve

This work involves creating detention basins at Michael Cronin Field and Dorothy Bailey Field; upgrading the stormwater pit on Willowbank place to provide greater inlet capacity and less chance of blockage; and create a bund to direct waterflow from Noble Reserve into the Willowbank Place drainage system.

The Report estimates the cost of implementing the three measures at $200,000, with a resulting reduction of damage costs of $700,000.

“Rather than put this work off, I appeal to Council to implement these relatively simple solutions as soon as possible, to reduce the stress on affected residents,” said Mr Corless when addressing councillors.

He reminded them that it was Council itself that filled in Werri Gully to allow for more housing lots when Council became the developer of the Ocean View Estate in the 1980s and constructed the stormwater drainage system that failed in 2020, and since then.

“I believe Council has a duty of care to protect the public and a moral obligation to fix what it created by acting quickly,” he said.

Viruben Watson, who moved into Willowbank Place just months before his house was flooded, is very pleased to hear something is to be done sooner rather than later.

“These extreme weather events are only going to be more frequent, and the psychological impact has been great,” he says.

“It is a very positive outcome to hear Council is taking heed of our concerns about the protection of our homes and our loved ones.”

Mr Corless came to speak at the Open Briefing after having trouble getting a response from Council, and Councillor Karen Renkema-Lang suggesting it as an option.

The six month trial period for the Open Briefings, which have usually heard more detail from staff, is up and Council is considering whether to continue with them.