Relief as drain gets a cleaning

After twice having her Trafalgar home threatened by flooding over the past two months Irene Hall was thrilled to see action taken to clear one of the drains that contributed to problems for her, and others, had been cleaned.
Ms Hall, who lives in the northern part of Trafalgar, said only the use of submersible pumps to get water out of her yard had saved her Settlement Rd house from being flooded following heavy rain.
After the latest threat a couple of weeks ago Ms Hall said Regional Roads Victoria had responded to calls to clean out the drain in Seven Mile Rd that takes stormwater run-off from much of the town.
It was a great start to what will be a long campaign to maintain critically important drains to Trafalgar residents and businesses, she said.
Member for Narracan Wayne Farnham, who'd also made a number of representations to RRV over the issue and had presented a petition to parliament, said he was pleased the "first steps" had been taken and was due to meet RRV officers this week with an aim to get a commitment to some sort of plan about what might be done in the longer term.
He said there was much more to be done than maintaining the Seven Mile Rd drain.
Mr Farnham is advocating a centralised approach involving Baw Baw Shire, RRV and the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority that all have responsibilities for drainage in the area.
""Run-off from current and ongoing development in Warragul, Yarragon and Trafalgar all ends in the system that drains into the Moe River".
It needs a common sense and coordinated approach to deal with the problems and prevent the loss of farm land due to the imposition of flood overlays, Mr Farnham said.