The residents of Londonderry are no strangers to flooding, in fact when there is rain on the forecast they begin to prepare for the worst.
Andrew (surname witheld) has lived on Spencer Road in Londonderry for over three decades. Two weeks ago during heavy rain, he took action to unblock a Penrith City Council drain on the road that was not letting stormwater through.
“I walked down in my gumboots, and the culvert entry was full of debris and dirt,” Andrew said.
“So, I jumped on the bobcat in a safe manner with all the hazard lights on and I spent eight minutes down there, cleared the debris from the culvert and immediately there was an impact. The water started flying straight down into it. That was that.”
Andrew says his actions stopped his neighbour’s house from flooding but unfortunately his own house wasn’t as lucky.
“Later that night the rain was getting heavier,” Andrew said.
“This area was flooded, and our pipes were not coping, and the legal discharge point was overflowing, it was inundated by the stormwater, and it backed up and came all through our house, the entire bottom floor.
“We’ve lived here 36 years and have never been flooded.”
The next day, Andrew got a visit from a Council Officer, saying he would be getting a fine for the for removing the debris from the drain as well as the matter being referred to police.
“He said that he had put a call into the police to have me charged with operating a motor vehicle that’s unregistered on a public road, and they are going to send me a bill for the clean-up,” Andrew said.
“I haven’t heard anything since, the silence from Council is deafening. There’s been no response, in fact I think they are ducking for cover.”
Andrew believes he did the right thing to help his neighbours, and what he did was in a safe manner.
“Come out and deal with this, don’t run and hide,” Andrew said.
“That’s not the way we are going to resolve this. This isn’t anything against Council, I just want help.”
Penrith City Councillor Glenn Gardiner has long been an advocate for drainage issues in Penrith and moved a motion in Council last year to spend $7.1 million to fix rural drainage issues. The motion was ultimately voted against.
“I am told that there is an active and ongoing investigation into Andrew’s conduct and as such it would be inappropriate for me to comment on that,” Gardiner said.
“The big picture is that all of the rural north of Penrith has inadequate infrastructure. We’ve got risks to people’s properties.”
Council confirmed that the drains on Spencer Road were “responding as designed during rain events”.
“During recent heavy rains causing minor localised flooding in parts of Londonderry, Council was alerted to unauthorised works in the road reserve at Spencer Road,” a spokesperson for Council said.
“Any work within the road reserve requires approval from Council to ensure the road, property and essential utilities are not damaged; and that public safety is looked after.
“As a result of unauthorised works performed by a person in their private bobcat, a neighbour’s driveway was pulled out and a drain was excavated within the road reserve.
“Council crews attended the site and undertook temporary make safe works to the driveway to provide access to the impacted property allowing the owners to enter and exit their home and will be required to return and repair the damage to the drain and culvert.
“Council is aware of expected localised stormwater flows in the area; however, the drains were responding as designed during rain events.
“Sheet flows through properties, along and across rural roads are expected in Londonderry during heavy or prolonged rain due to the flat topography.
“There is no evidence that the water on the road, caused by a storm event was impacting or threatening to impact homes.”
Emily Chate
Emily Chate joined The Western Weekender in 2024, and covers local news - primarily courts and politics. A graduate of the University of Wollongong, Emily has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and worked as a freelance journalist.