The 23-page document shows that the planning rules amendment requested by Melbourne Water in July 2015 initially proposed to increase the amount of designated flood-prone land over the riverside development.
However Tigcorp argued the proposal was based on outdated information because it overlooked flood mitigation earthworks it said had been undertaken with Melbourne Water’s approval.
The submission states that the water authority then agreed to reduce the size of the proposed new flood map,writing in a letter:“This will ensure that all the unit development sites are not affected by the[flood overlay].”
The change was adopted in 2016,leaving only a sliver of designated flood-prone land between the retirement village and the river.
The developer then began construction on part of the site no longer considered a floodplain. Had Melbourne Water’s original proposal stuck,homes flooded in October might never have been built.
The planning expert who backed the change as the sole person on a panel was Nick Wimbush,who was appointed chair of Melbourne Water’s flood inquiry in December.He resigned in February after revelations about the Rivervue development were published inThe Age.