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| Yeronga's Andrew Dunstone and his dog, Murray, will be high and dry if there's another flood like that of January 2011. |
MORE than 200 residents of flood-prone Brisbane suburbs have applied to rebuild their homes at higher levels two years on from the devastating natural disaster.
The applications follow Brisbane City Council's introduction in the months following the floods of a temporary planning provision allowing owners in affected suburbs to lift residences from a maximum height of 8.5m to 9.5m.
Homeowners could also relocate structures on their blocks, providing they complied with "set back" rules determining how far homes could be from a boundary, and did not rotate the structure.
Figures provided by BCC reveal 211 applications have been received from residents looking to rebuild homes higher, with the suburbs of Chelmer (35), West End (14) and Auchenflower (14) recording the highest take-up rate.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the figure was just "the tip of the iceberg", as those people only raising their existing house, not rebuilding, did not have to lodge applications.
BCC is now seeking to extend the 9.5m limit across the entire city as part of changes proposed in the new City Plan.
Higher homes are just part of the flood legacy left on Brisbane's planning rules, with the Q100 benchmark scrapped and a new defined flood level also adopted.
The changes mean residential development applications lodged since last May must have a habitable floor level at least 500mm above the January 2011 flood level, or the pre-existing flood level for that area - whichever is higher.
Speaking on the anniversary of the disaster which damaged 22,000 homes and 7600 businesses, Cr Quirk said the changes were aimed at making the city more flood resilient.
"No one can ever guarantee that Brisbane will not flood again," Cr Quirk said.
"We're a city built on a flood plain. The reality is that we have had events far worse than what we experienced in January 2011, going back to the 1800s."
"While we have dams built that have helped our resilience, no one can ever guarantee that we will never flood again."
With $400 million in damage inflicted on council infrastructure alone during the flood, Cr Quirk said repairs were well on the way to completion.
So far work on 465km of stormwater drains, 13,000sqm of footpaths, 155 traffic intersections, 17 bridges and 406 parks has been carried out.
BCC has also spent $14 million buying back 35 of Brisbane's most flood-prone homes and paid out about $11.83 million to 107 flood-affected community and sporting clubs.
Cr Quirk said some recovery projects such as the $70 million replacement of river walk with a new more flood resistant structure and the upgrading boat ramps and fishing platforms were ongoing.
About 66 per cent of works to council's 194 flood damaged roads had also been completed.
The full replacement of Brisbane's CityCat terminals is expected to be the last recovery task finished.
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Applications to rebuild homes to new maximum allowable height of 9.5m since the floods.
(Does not include the raising of an existing home, as no application is required)
ALBION: 1
ANSTEAD: 2
ASHGROVE: 1
AUCHENFLOWER:14
BARDON:6
BELLBOWRIE:2
BROOKFIELD: 2
BULIMBA: 4
CHANDLER: 1
CHELMER: 35
CLAYFIELD: 2
COORPAROO: 1
CORINDA: 4
EAST BRISBANE: 4
FAIRFIELD: 6
FIG TREE POCKET: 2
GRACEVILLE: 13
HAWTHORNE: 3
HEMMANT: 1
HIGHGATE HILL: 2
INDOOROOPILLY: 9
JINDALEE: 1
KELVIN GROVE: 1
MILTON: 5
MOGGILL: 3
MOOROOKA: 1
MORNINGSIDE: 1
NEW FARM: 13
NEWMARKET: 1
NORMAN PARK: 9
NORTHGATE: 1
OXLEY: 3
PADDINGTON: 7
PINJARRA HILLS: 2
ROCKLEA: 4
SALISBURY: 1
SANDGATE: 1
SHERWOOD: 2
SINNAMON PARK: 1
ST LUCIA: 4
TENNYSON: 5
THE GAP: 1
TOOWONG: 1
WEST END: 14
WESTLAKE: 1
WILSTON: 1
WOOLLOONGABBA: 1
WOOLOOWIN: 2
YERONGA: 9
Total: 211
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14.1.13
