🌊 Would you buy a house that floods every year?

WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

• SATURDAY, 11/10/25 | Camperdown Show

• FRIDAY-SUNDAY, 10/10/25-12/10/25 | Port Fairy Spring Music Festival

• SUNDAY, 12/10/25 | Timboon Farmers and Makers Market

LATEST HEADLINES IN WEST VIC

🏡 “Buyer beware”: Warrnambool council floats sale of flood-prone houses

Warrnambool City Council has voted unanimously to go to community consultation on the sale of three flood-prone houses on Koroit Street, even though the area’s known for being one of the city’s wettest spots.

These council-owned homes have sat mostly empty for years since they were purchased by the Council about 30 years ago, and the Council says selling them could bring in some cash and cut down on maintenance costs.

But Councillor Richard Ziegler says buyers should beware. 

“The three properties have been presenting problems for many, many years because of the flood risks and the flood problems pretty much every year when there’s heavy rain,” he told the Brolga.

“I remember the situation when Council bought the properties because they felt there was no way to do engineering that would prevent the properties from being inundated as frequently as they are.”

A report conducted by the Council says while drainage works have “reduced the historical flood risk, uncertainty remains until the system is fully tested in a major event”.

The report also says “the properties face insurance limitations due to past flood claims.”

According to a report by South West Climate Change, although there will be reductions in total average annual rainfall by 3 percent by 2030, single 50mm rainfall events will increase by 3 percent, which could lead to localised flooding. In October 2020, Warrnambool and surrounds were flooded after exceeding the monthly rainfall average in five days, with the area receiving 107mm. The State Emergency Service responded to 160 requests for help during that period, with more than half of those calls being flood-related.

Woodford Primary School, north of Warrnambool, had to close after its oval and playground were flooded. 

Victoria’s 2024 Climate Science Report notes the behaviour of the state’s flood events have been changing, with large floods increasing in magnitude by about 3 percent each decade. Smaller floods have decreased by up to 13 percent per decade over the past 70 years.

This trend is expected to accelerate if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, potentially doubling Victoria’s flood risk by the end of the century.

Earlier this year, the Council rejected a flood study for South Warrnambool – and then approved planning permits in the area. These decisions have kept the city’s flood management policies in the spotlight.

The Council’s decision to reject the flood study made headlines, with the study’s principal environmental engineer and lead investigator Michael South telling the ABC the findings placed the area on the “upper end” of flood risk.

South said that after working on about 20 flood studies, using “consistent methodologies”, the push-back from Warrnambool councillors was “a first”. 

“This is the highest resistance I've experienced,” he said.

Councillors also voiced their concern about potential decreases in property values and increased insurance premiums if the recommendations were approved.

Councillor Vicki Jellie questioned “how can anyone have the insight” to “make a decision now for the next 75 years” in response to the investigation.

Councillor Ziegler said potential purchasers of the three Warrnambool properties built in flood risk areas need to know the risks. 

“There is an ethical issue from the point of view that, well, Council is offloading because they're problematic for them, the Council, and a buyer will have the same problems in future.”

Japan Street, which is just nearby, flooded last January, and it’s one of several areas across Warrnambool that have faced flooding in recent years.

Ziegler said there’s no parallel between the sale of these properties on Koroit Street and the approval of a new house in South Warrnambool’s Oceanex estate – other than the subject of “excess water” – and that the Council’s decision to potentially sell will bring in some money.

“I think that having voted for the sale of this property, I acknowledge the fact that we could make some money out of it. But again, whoever buys it will have to be very aware of what they're buying.”

Read more

🧑‍🚒 When the pager sounds, these young Western Victorians drop everything and prepare to face the fire

Daniel Bullen remembers standing on a hill at his neighbour’s dairy farm, watching the flames roll over the paddocks near Timboon during the St Patrick’s Day fires in 2018.

“I just thought to myself, what’s a 21-year-old doing standing here when he could be down helping?” he said.

Seven years later, 28-year-old Bullen is still volunteering with the Scotts Creek–Cowleys Creek and Timboon brigades. 

His first major deployment was as part of a strike team to Pomonal in 2023.

Bullen is one of many young volunteers stepping up across south west Victoria, part of a new generation keeping the CFA’s legacy alive while balancing work, family and study.

For 24-year-old Hannah Whytcross, that legacy runs deep. A member of the Camperdown and Weerite brigades, she’s the third generation in her family to don the yellow overalls.

A qualified breathing apparatus operator, she’s responded to incidents including car crashes and major bushfires in the Grampians and Otways.

“Both experiences were pretty life-changing. It was confronting, but it reiterates the fact that we've got to get to an incident in a timely manner to protect others,” she said. 

Brodie Hanks, 18, is a member of the Jancourt brigade. He joined two years ago, following his dad into the brigade, and has already been elected first lieutenant and training officer.

Now, with more responsibility, Hanks says leadership is about trust.

“It’s confronting making sure everyone’s safe and that everyone gets home,” he said. “When things don’t go quite right, it can be scary, but you’ve got to back yourself and trust the people around you.”

Across the district, more young volunteers like Hanks are taking on leadership roles as older members retire. In Brucknell, 21 year old Jack Roberts is preparing to take over his small rural brigade.

Roberts joined at 16 after family friends encouraged him to check it out. Now a third lieutenant and communications officer, he hasn’t missed a callout this year.

“If everyone thinks someone else will go, then no one goes,” he said. “I’m proud that I push myself to show up. You never know what difference it might make.”

Read more