Water Technology was engaged to prepare specialist investigations relating to flooding and water quality associated with a proposed Childcare Facility in Surfers Paradise and to support a development application to Gold Coast City Council. The proposed development includes a childcare centre for around 44 children up to the age of 6 years.

The child care centre is located within the Nerang River Floodplain and is partially inundated under the 1% AEP flood event. A variety of technical assessments and investigations were undertaken in respect to regional flooding at the site and having regard to the Council’s codes and policies relating to development within flood-prone areas. Aspects investigated included flood storage and volume considerations for the site (and maintaining storage provisions following development), site egress and access provisions, flood impacts and non-worsening as well as building and flood immunity provisions. The technical assessments were successful in identifying a suitable site arrangement that satisfactorily addressed each of the Council performance criteria for flooding.

The specialist assessments also included the assessment of on-site stormwater quality and quantity measures to comply with the Council’s development guidelines. A variety of measures were investigated and these include a range of water quantity and water quality measures (including Water Sensitive Urban Design measures). The adopted stormwater strategy at the site comprised Rainwater Harvesting Tanks (RWT), Stormwater Detention Tanks, Bioretention Basin as well as Coarse Sediment Forebay system incorporated within the car parking areas.

In addition to the above, Water Technology also developed and prepared a Flood Emergency Management Plan (FEMP) for the site. The purpose of the FEMP is to provide management and staff of the business with detailed knowledge of flooding in the area and a concise framework for training staff on procedures should flooding be likely to occur due to heavy rainfall being experienced. The principal aim of the FEMP is to ensure that any risk from flooding to people that use the facility is low. The FEMP strategy devised for the site was designed to achieve full evacuation of the site prior to flooding reaching a threshold level upon which evacuation was not possible. The FEMP was successful in demonstrating that the site could operate in the manner intended as a child care facility within the context of the FEMP strategy to provide for the safe evacuation of the site.