THE wild winds and high tide on Anzac Day weekend spooked members of the lobby group Friends of Frankston and prompted the question: who will pay for future flood damage?
Parts of Victoria were hit by winds of up to 120kmh with Frankston copping gusts of more than 90kmh, as well as one of the highest tides in recent years caused by strong westerlies and a huge low pressure system crossing the state.
Graphic video footage on the Friends of Frankston's new website 'Frankston Community Connection' (www
.frankston.vic.au) shows huge waves blasting the entrance to Kananook Creek, swamping the pier and inundating residences along the creek.
The clips have been sent to the council's chief executive George Modrich and all councillors.
The Western Port Greenhouse Alliance warns that because of climate change such storms could occur ever six years within 20 years and every year by 2070.
The alliance covers seven councils in the south-east including Frankston.
Its award-winning report published last year, Impacts of Climate Change on Human Settlements in the Western Port Region: an Integrated Assessment, also included worrying data about the threat of rising seas and more storms affecting Frankston and other municipalities on Port Phillip.
Richard Laverack of Friends of Frankston says the council is not taking seriously enough predicted sea level rises and more frequent storm surges, citing the council's January housing strategy, which canvasses building medium-density housing, including "along the Seaford foreshore as indicated on the Housing Directions Map".
The council is planning for 19,000 extra people by 2016 and says it will need 13,600 additional dwellings by 2031.
"We worry about the legal implications of allowing development close to Port Phillip," Mr Laverack said.
"What happens when the solicitors get buzzing after an inundation? There is a risk ratepayers will be asked to foot the bill, but this will be spread around 50,000 households and the 'liability' tucked away unnoticed in the 5per cent annual rate increase."
Frankston's water worries are set against the backdrop of the State Government warning planners they should factor in an 80-centimetre sea level rise over the next 100 years for projects near the coast.
Mr Modrich said Frankston was a founding member of the greenhouse alliance, and took very seriously the projections of the greenhouse alliance and IPCC (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, on which part of the WPGA report was based).
He said the council had an inter-departmental climate change committee to ensure all council projects took the possible effects of climate change into account.
"While much of the direction in response to climate change must be driven by the federal and state governments, the council is responding to the issue of climate change at a local level on a number of policy fronts.
"Our draft budget commits funding for sustainable street lighting ($2.5million) to reduce greenhouse emissions and also makes provision for significant additional use of recycled water to reducing our potable water consumption on reserves. We are also working on a review of our municipal planning statement, which also has regard to climate change impact."
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