Residents consider their drain options

By Sarah Schwager
A ‘DRAINING’ issue facing Tooradin residents is set to be addressed at a public meeting.
The problem of open drains in Harewood Street has been an issue for over 20 years but was again raised earlier this month when residents put forward a petition to Casey Council.
The City of Casey has now given residents four options in a bid to fix the open drains, which some locals have dubbed a “death trap”.
A meeting will be held before 31 October to discuss the preferred options.
The options include underground drainage funded through a special charge scheme where the property owners would pay for the works and a drainage scheme where the owners organise the construction themselves.
In the council report, officers noted that the typical urban standard in the City of Casey for a street of this nature would be serviced by a sealed road, kerb and channel and footpaths.
In contrast, Harewood Street has a gravel road, no footpaths and a large open drain.
In the report council officers said the best solution would be to implement a drainage and street scheme; however, street schemes funded by property owners have had limited support in the past.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, councillor Colin Butler said the land around Harewood Street was very flat and the drains only needed a little bit of rain to be dangerous.
Cr Butler said he hoped residents were happy with the options that council officers had come up with and that council and residents could move forward to resolve the problem.
A risk assessment will also be undertaken on the open drains to determine health risks and possible solutions.