Planning and Land Use Services and the River Murray Flood Planning and Building Working Group
Project: River Murray Flood Resilience Code Amendment
The Code Amendment arose from the devastating consequences of flooding on the River Murray communities in December 2022 and into 2023. The Code policy changes and related process are a demonstration of how the planning system can respond quickly and efficiently with improved policy to assist in mitigating future flood risk as the impacted communities commenced the ongoing rebuilding process.
The Code Amendment aligns with the broader recognition by the South Australian Government of the climate emergency and the need to build resilience in our communities. In particular, the Code Amendment enables flood-affected landowners and their advisors to easily understand minimum height requirements to elevate dwellings above potential future flood levels, design techniques for the external treatment of the undercroft area of buildings, new area dimensions for non-habitable rooms in undercroft areas and siting for new sheds in relation to dwelling location and the river.
The Code amendment is a leading example of combining spatial data analysis, scientific modelling and the PlanSA e-Planning solution to deliver user-friendly and accessible digital planning rules. Crucially, the Code amendment was prepared with extensive collaboration with stakeholders, particularly the councils and communities impacted by the flood. This collaboration was instrumental for the Code amendment to be brought into early commencement in June 2023, only 6 months of the flood event.
The Code Amendment is a very well deserved recipient of the Award.