CONSTANT rain in the region that reached its peak early last week when more than 60 mm of raid fell, has left a Lower Loddon family with more water than it can handle.
The Handcock family purchased a residence on Weir road, about 5 km north of Kerang, in May 1990 and has been inundated with water during two of the three years.
Graham Handcock, his wife Lauren and their two sons, Travis, 7 and Joel, 4 have had to experience a number of hygiene problems in that time and are unhappy with the response to ate from the Shire of Kerang.
“When I purchased the property in 1990 I was advised by the shire’s building inspector that the house would only incur some seepage water and was in no danger of being flood,” Mr Handcock said.
He said flooding had spread under the house, in the front and rear yard, driveway, garage and had rendered the septic toilet system inoperative.
The flooding often takes up to six weeks to completely disperse, during which time the sanitary system is inoperative for at least three weeks.
Mr Handcock said he had asked the shire on numerous occasions to find a solution to the poor drainage problem at his house and nearby neighbors, only to meet with a negative response.
Miss Emily Maudsley, whose home is experiencing similar drainage problems, has fully endorsed Mr Handcock’s comments on the drainage problem.
“My septic tank has been submerged for at least a week and the smell in my house is not pleasant. How Graham and Lauren are coping with two small children I don’t know,” she said.
The solution, according to Mr Handcock, is to construct a drain from Weir road to the Loddon River, where water would then be pumped via a sump to the river.
He said landholders in the area had to rely on a tractor driven pump to disperse the water to the river at present – a process that has proved costly and ineffective.
“An automatic electric level pump could be erected at the sump site, of which the cost of the pump and accompanying mount would be prepared to cover between us, while the shire paid for excavation work and power connections,” he said.
Mr Handcock believes the cost of establishing the pump and subsequent excavation work would be far less than the figure of $33,000 for drainage works that resulted from a shire survey some years ago.
Mr Handcock believes the majority of water that accumulates around his property is a bi-product of drainage water from the nearby Weir road. The water is transferred to the river side via a drainage pipe under the road.
Kerang Shire Council’s planning and works committee and shire engineer, Mr Peter McDonald, will inspect Mr Handcock’s property at 11 am next Tuesday.
Cr Jim Whelan proposed that the committee inspect Mr Handcock’s property prior to the committee’s November 1 meeting to make an appraisal.
