|
|
NEXT FMA MEETING FMA May Quarterly Meeting and Annual General Meeting, Thursday 19 May 2016 at the FMA Conference at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre in Nowra.
|
FMA Meets with QRA Acting CEO
|
FMA President Ian Dinham, Queensland Director Con de Groot, Technical Director Danny Rose and Executive Officer Glenn Evans met with Queensland Reconstruction Authority acting CEO Brendan Moon and DILGP Director Jo Beadle in Brisbane on 17 February. The meeting covered the roles of Queensland agencies involved in flood risk management, assistance FMA can provide, and a number of issues which had been
raised by Members.
Mr Dinham said the meeting was very positive, and FMA looks forward to working closely with the QRA to reduce flood risks for Queensland communities. |
FMA Meets with NSW Chief Planner
|
FMA president Ian Dinham, Land Use Planning Director Paul Grech, former Director Allan Gear and Executive Officer Glenn Evans have met with the NSW Chief Planner, Gary White. Mr White was appointed by the Department of Planning and Environment in September, coming from the private sector in NSW and before that from Queensland Government where he was involved in flood issues, including
participating in the Queensland Floods Inquiry.
FMA has been advocating for a NSW State Planning Policy dealing with natural hazards, such as Queensland has, and for addressing inconsistencies between the NSW Flood Prone Land Policy and environmental planning legislation.
Mr Grech said these unresolved issues were discussed with Mr White, with the offer of FMA assistance in reforming the planning system to appropriately manage flood risks. “We
are encouraged by Mr White’s practical experience and understanding of flood issues, and his enthusiasm to provide better planning arrangements for New South Wales. FMA’s Position Statement on land use planning in flood areas will provide a sound basis for further discussions with the Department”, he said. |
Queensland Chapter Meeting and Workshop |
|
Pictured: Portia Rigby and Hester van Zijl (Rockhampton Regional Council) in Brisbane. 50 flood risk management practitioners from 32 organisations participated in our 4th Queensland Chapter Meeting and Workshop in Brisbane on 17 February. The very full program included Seqwater’s Principal
Engineer - Dam Safety Operations Michel Raymond explaining his organisation’s roles in flood time, DILGP Director Susan Mercer Nightingale discussing the review of the State Planning Policy, Natural Hazards, and LGAQ's Senior Advisor Disaster Management Michael Dickinson outlining the responsibilities, roles and opportunities for Local Government in preparing for and responding to flood events.
The afternoon’s
double-header Workshop was kicked off by Moreton Bay Regional Council’s Portia Rigby and Hester van Zijl presenting Council’s recently developed Regional Floodplain Database, and the very impressive automated Flood Report generation process which provides Flood Check Property Reports and Flood Check Development Reports. The systems were developed by Moreton Bay Council and consultant StoneGecko Pty Ltd, and are now offered for use by other Councils. |
Pictured: Karl Sullivan (Insurance Council of Australia) in Brisbane.
The second session ran into overtime with the Insurance Council of Australia’s General Manager Risk Karl Sullivan demonstrating the ICA’s flood data management system, DataGlobe, and fielding a stream of questions on flood risk assessment, flood premium setting and the insurance industry generally.
To keep up to date with Queensland FRM issues make sure you attend the next FMA meeting – the AGM on 19 May at the Conference in Nowra.
Sydney
Quarterly Meeting and Workshop |
|
Pictured (from left): Allan Gear (The Hills Shire Council), Paul Grech (Floodplain Management Australia) and John Cole (Abbott Tout) in Sydney.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Sydney office was again the venue for our 25 February NSW
Quarterly Meeting and Workshop. 50 representatives from Local Government, agencies and industry heard the latest on grant funding arrangements and assistance for Councils from the Office of Environment and Heritage’s Contestable Grants Senior Team Leader Leah Andrew’s and Principal Flood Specialist Duncan McLuckie.
SES Manager Emergency Risk Management Elliott Simmons provided an update on development of the OEH-SES on-line portal which will provide access to the NSW
Flood Database - the strategic-level repository for NSW flood information derived from flood studies. Key users will be all NSW Local Government Councils, State Government Agencies and the Commonwealth Government. The meeting also welcomed BoM’s newly appointed NSW Regional Hydrology Manager Justin Robinson who discussed the development of HyFS – the Next Gen Hydrological Forecasting System, and its ability to provide improved flood warning
services.
The highlight of the day was the Q & A - Flood Risk Management in Land Use Planning with a Panel of Planning and Legal Experts, Paul Grech, Allan Gear and John Cole, partner with Abbott Tout, addressing a range of challenging issues from Members across the state. The responses by the Panel in this highly entertaining session provided very practical general guidance in dealing with complex but not uncommon planning
issues.
Watch out for the next Sydney Workshop on 18
August. |
FMA Flood Data and Insurance
Workshop |
FMA’s Flood Insurance Working Group, made up of representatives from major insurance companies, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), Local Government, agencies and FMA got together at ICA's office in Sydney on 24 February.
The Working Group was established by FMA
in response to Members’ concerns about the cost and availability of flood insurance, and flood data sharing arrangements.
The agenda included sharing of flood damage information held by insurers to assist in developing flood mitigation options; state and national data sharing arrangements; and development of an education resource on flood resistant building materials.
|
Conference Rego Discounts and Keynote Speaker
Revealed |
|
You’ve only got three weeks left to register for the Early Registration Conference Discounts for our 56 th Annual Conference in May! Make sure you register online at floodplainconference.com
by 25 March to make the most of these savings.
Keynote presentations will include Professor Darryl Low Choy, Environmental Landscape Planning at Griffith University. Prof. Low Choy is leading research into climate change adaptation for Human Settlements and resilient communities’ response and recovery from natural hazards.
The Conference will also include plenary and concurrent presentations, a Local Government Councillors'
session, field trips addressing floodplain issues in the Shoalhaven, networking events, and 70 speakers from across Australia, as well as New Zealand and the United States . There will also be Pre-conference Workshops covering an introduction to flood risk management, developing a business case for flood mitigation works, data sharing and the revisions to Australian Rainfall and Runoff.
Get more information including program, registration, and
sponsorship/exhibition opportunities at floodplainconference.com. |
NSW Floodplain Management Grants Closing 17 March |
The Office of Environment and Heritage Floodplain Management Grants for the 2016/17 year are closing on 17 March 2016.
Funding is available for projects that manage flood risk including: |
|
Do you have a project that you’d like to share? Tell us all about your flood risk management work and we’ll share it with our Members in our Monthly FMA Flyer. |
|
POSITIONS VACANT
Principal Engineer, Water Assets - City of Sydney
The City has an exciting opportunity available for an innovative and motivated Principal Engineer to lead their Water Assets Team.
With your demonstrated people and teamwork skills you will effectively lead your team, delivering to set goals and priorities and ensuring that work is completed on time and within budget.
To be successful in this role you will have a degree in Civil or Environmental Engineering and have the credentials required to be
chartered Engineer. You will also have strong communications skills and extensive experience in a storm water and floodplain management role.
Applications must address the selection criteria stated within the position description, and be made online via the City’s website by Wednesday 16 March 2016.
As a service to our Members we welcome information on career opportunities in the area of floodplain management.
If you are interested in promoting a vacant position with us,
contact
us. GRADUATES SEEKING EMPLOYMENT The FMA is occasionally contacted by young professional in fields related to flood risk management seeking introductions to potential employers.
If your business is seeking a new employee please contact us, we may know of someone suitable.
FMA CAPS AROUND THE WORLD Where has your FMA Conference Cap been? |
|
Recognise your Cap at the 2013 National Conference at Tweed Heads?
|
Thanks for reading, and see you next month! P.S. HAVE YOU REGISTERED FOR OUR 2016 CONFERENCE YET?
If you found this Flyer interesting please forward it to a colleague, and suggest they sign up to receive it directly
in future.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
