By Gabriella Payne
A number of residents who live near Kennedy Creek in Pakenham have raised concerns about the maintenance of the waterway, with fears that the litter and “overgrown” foliage could result in future flooding.
Pakenham resident, Dave Connor, said that a lot of locals were worried about the “overgrown vegetation” and possible “contamination” of the water, as the amount of plants and litter in the creek seemed to block the flow of water and make it stagnant, posing a risk to all.
“It’s very bad actually,” Mr Connor said.
“If we get a sustained rain event, like we saw recently in NSW, there are serious concerns about the ability of the water to run away quickly enough, because it could flood houses close to Kennedy Creek.”
The creek itself crosses underneath the Princes Highway, and Mr Connor said that residents were only concerned about the maintenance of the northern side, as there is a “stark difference” between the two.
While the southern side is managed by the Cardinia Shire Council, the northern side is the responsibility of Melbourne Water and Mr Connor said that he had been in contact with the organisation multiple times to alert them to the problem, but so far felt like little had been done.
Melbourne Water’s team leader of regional services for the south east, David Voce, said that the organisation were aware of these residents’ concerns and after recently inspecting the waterway, had concluded that the vegetation didn’t “pose any issues”.
“Melbourne Water regularly inspects and removes rubbish and weeds along Kennedy Creek, between Ayesha Rise and the Princes Highway,” Mr Voce said.
“The vegetation growing in the creek may appear to be overgrown, but this is filtering the water to improve stormwater quality and doesn’t pose any issues.
We are confident that there are no flooding risks along the creek, and the system is functioning as intended,” he said.
Melbourne Water admitted that Kennedy Creek had had problems in the past with litter trapped in vegetation along the creek, but noted that the vegetation is environmentally important as it provides both habitat for native animals as well as a filter to improve stormwater quality.
In the event of high rainfall, Melbourne Water said that the vegetation in Kennedy Creek could be pushed over to allow flood waters to pass through the system, and that there was no risk to residents’ homes.
However, Mr Voce said that addressing the litter issue was a key priority for Melbourne Water, and each year the organisation spent about $4 million cleaning rubbish from waterways around Greater Melbourne.
“Our crews inspected the area last week in response to concerns raised by local residents,” Mr Voce said on Tuesday 13 April.
“We have committed to clean out any rubbish in the next litter run, which is scheduled for this month, and will also cut back overgrown vegetation at the Princes Highway culvert.
This should allow water to move more freely underneath the highway,” he said.
