VRC’s wall a flooding nightmare for city’s residents.
A racecourse over people’s lives
If you happen to be living in Melbourne, and you’re a resident of the City of Maribyrnong – you have every right to be furious with the events of two weeks ago.
For those living near the Maribyrnong River, their lives are now devastatingly ruined.
Protecting a racecourse has more value than the lives and livelihoods of the people of Maribyrnong and surrounding suburbs.
While the elite coiffed and dined in celebration at a luncheon hosted by the Victorian Employment Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI), to mark the start of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, at the course’s Atrium room, their minds were fixed on what could be a record-breaking bonanza of racing.
For two years, COVID starved Melburnians and the world of the Melbourne Cup and all its spoils the season brings with festivities and its economic abundance of riches.
So, they partied, and knew of the devastation taking place outside of the course’s borders. How could they not?
The offensiveness of continuing to celebrate, intentionally ignoring the suffering and the emotional and financial consequences of record floods, should have any decent person angry at such arrogance.
Flemington Racecourse was spared, untouched and unaffected by the destruction outside its perimeters and that’s all that mattered – and the Victorian Racing Commission had a great role to play in it.
Melbourne is renowned for its multi-cultural diversity, but what isn’t widely known is the closeness of proximity the City of Maribyrnong to the heart of Melbourne - the most ethnically and culturally diverse place on earth.
It’s a rich tapestry of nations congregated in 31.2 square kilomteres of land with a population of more than 100,000.
So, what then is the problem and why should the residents of Maribyrnong be angry?
Their anger might have something to do with the Victorian Racing Commission.
Since records have been kept, the Maribyrnong has flooded since the late 1800’s when there’s been significantly heavy rains.
Rivers like it breaking their banks aren’t uncommon, and they’re to be expected. But on this occasion, how the City of Maribyrnong flooded, was without expectation.
On October 14, Maribyrnong’s residents woke to a river that had not only broken its banks, but flooded its surrounds in ways that were devastating.
It had literally consumed the city in its entirety.
The city had become submerged in flooding waters of silt, mud, and debris where the livelihoods of thousands were destroyed.
But to know what caused the level of destruction to areas that should never have flooded or been as devastated as they were, one needs to go back in time to May 1974.
The Maribyrnong is one of Melbourne’s largest rivers. It stretches 130 kilometres from the Macedon Ranges to Port Phillip Bay, and with a predominantly rural catchment of over 1400 square kilometres.
Flooding although not a regular occurrence remains a threat regardless of its infrequency.
But on May 16, 1974, record rains flooded Melbourne and swamped vast areas of the State and one of Melbourne’s most treasured landmarks, the home of the Melbourne Cup, the Flemington Racecourse, became a swamp.
It was from that point flooding became an issue of contention for the VRC. Its focus was how to mitigate such an occurrence ever happening again.
Losing the Melbourne Cup or any other race meetings held there, could not happen again, or jeopardise Flemington’s coffers.
The 1974 floods now became the catalyst for the October 14, 2022, disaster.
But how and why means looking back at a decision in 2004, made by the Victorian Government and Melbourne Water to build a 2.5 metre bluestone wall to protect the course.
And the wall did just that - while everything outside its perimeter was converted into a mass of water, Flemington remained dry.
It’s understandable to want to protect an asset, but at what cost? That cost has been at the expense of residents without regard for the unintended consequences that occurred because of its construction.
Melbourne Water claims the construction of the flood wall in 2004 was subject to a range of additional mitigation measures as well as ongoing maintenance and management of those assets.
Modelling work conducted at the time, according to it, found flood protection works could be done in a way that didn’t increase the risk to surrounding areas. But they did!
The wall protected Flemington but seemingly dispersed flood waters to areas that should never have been devastated in the way they were.
And the after effect, is visible for all to see. Travel the streets of the City of Maribyrnong, and the havoc wreaked, and devastation endured is heartbreaking.
Streets and streets of homes were lined with the livelihoods of residents, now rubbish, stacked three to four feet high in front yards and on nature strips - and who knows if the insurance they have will cover their losses, or if they even are insured.
You couldn’t help thinking what you were witnessing was the aftermath of a war zone.
But once again, elitism and arrogance reared its ugly head in the face of the suffering.
It’s offensive to every Melburnian to hear the VRC’s chief executive Dale Monteitha , praise the success of the flood wall, saying it had delivered a legacy because it protected major events such as next month's Melbourne Cup Carnival.
His assertion there was no intention by the VRC to cause harm, and all it is doing is trying to protect the Spring Racing Carnival and the Melbourne Cup Carnival which is a massively important part of Victorian life and the Victorian economy, is fine to a point. But where’s the empathy? There was none.
Instead, the focus is the success of the wall and stuff those that paid a heavy price for greed.
Maybe rather than VECCI posting 300 images to its website so people could download and relive their memories, they should be more sensitive to the suffering of those affected.
And as for the VRC, it should be hit with a levy or tax that will be directly donated to those that have lost everything to rebuild their lives.
But then again, that’s wishful thinking.