New development puts footings at risk
Brian Somers' Longwarry front yard was once so dry he could park his van loaded with a jumping castle on it. Now a small car sinks in it, and his boots get wet every time he walks on it.
by Courtney O'Brien
Brian Somers' Longwarry front yard was once so dry he could park his van loaded with a jumping castle on it. Now a small car sinks in it, and his boots get wet every time he walks on it.
Earlier this year developers purchased land around Mr Somers' property to build 36 new units and the ground level was raised by about half a metre.
He claims water runoff from the elevated development has led to his property becoming saturated, soggy and soft, potentially impacting the footings of his home.
Footings impacted by constant moisture can potentially lead to severe structural issues such as uneven settling or sinking of the house's foundation and or cracks and bowing in foundation walls.
Mr Somers has contacted Baw Baw Shire Council and the developers to voice his concerns about drainage.
"The council have told me that Melbourne Water instructed developers to raise the ground level by 500mm because of the flood prone area," he explained.
"And so now my property is collecting all the water."
"I used to be able to drive a car or a tractor or whatever on my front lawn and never had any issues with sinking. The low point was always about 100 meters away on next door's property. But now the low point is my property."
"My concern is that it's affecting my footings."
A temporary solution in the form of a drain across the new roadway, to take some of the water off Mr Somers' property was recently put in, pending a permanent drain. But Mr Somers believes it will be largely ineffective.
"My main concern is the stormwater runoff which I've been told apparently, what they're going to do is lower the ground level again, where the roads are.
"Which doesn't seem like it's going to do much, because lowering that ground will just mean that it's level with my ground again in theory, and it's a hard surface - asphalt - so it'll probably just run off onto my property even easier than it did before."
Drainage for the development is at the back of the property into the existing Mackeys drain, which Mr Somers said already filled after high rainfalls.
It also backs onto the yards of eight houses in Serenity Crt.
"I find it quite disturbing that Melbourne Water and the council don't seem to care about the residents living here," Mr Somers said.
"My theory is that the council doesn't care about me because I'm one rate payer. They're getting 36 new ratepayers by the development next door."
Baw Baw Shire acting director community and planning services Geoff Oulton said council fully understood the frustrations of Longwarry residents when it came to flooding and work was underway to develop options to mitigate the issue.
"We look forward to Melbourne Water completing flood modelling whilst council continues the development of the Longwarry Drainage Strategy."
Mr Somers also highlighted an issue with privacy, as raising the ground levels led to overlooking issues for existing homes.
"All the houses along Serenity Crt back onto that development and all of those units look straight into the windows of the houses."
The kitchen window of one unit looks directly into Mr Somers' daughter's bedroom.
"So, unless they're going to build an extra tall fence, like an eight- or nine-foot fence, then you're going to have overlooking issues," Mr Somers said.
