Urban Utilities has unveiled the Wetland Concept Design for the proposed Cannery Creek Sewer Upgrade project. The water distributor-retailer is eyeing a nature-based approach to address the impact of extreme weather on the wastewater network within the Northgate and Banyo catchment.
The proposed $65-million upgrade aims to better manage the local wastewater network that tends to overflow during intense rainfall events and impacts private properties in low-lying areas of Northgate and Banyo.
To address the issue, Urban Utilities considered two potential solutions:
- A traditional ‘grey infrastructure’ which meant building larger, more expensive pipes
- A nature-based solution in the form of constructed wetlands that would naturally treat the overflow water before entering the creek.
Of the two solutions, the planning committee opted for the nature-based concept approach as it would achieve “the same customer overflow, public health and environmental outcomes as the traditional solution” yet at a significantly lower project cost.
The project will include building an underground pump station to be located on the opposite side of the Cannery Creek at Frederick Street and a new two-kilometre underground pipe that will direct flows to a new wetland and bioretention basins that will then serve as natural filters.
The project will also entail the rehabilitation of the creek with a series of sediment basins to be built between Earnshaw and Nudgee roads along with the beautification of the creek banks and its surrounding area as well as providing the community with better access via new shared paths.
The Community Planning Team (CPT), which was formed in 2019 and included members of the community, collaborated with external subject matter experts, landscape architects and stormwater treatment specialists in determining the best option to put forward.
“Urban Utilities is proud to have worked alongside the local community in designing this project and we thank the community planning team members for their input. Thanks to this collaborative approach we’ll be able to make cannery creek and its surrounds more resilient to wet weather events to ensure the community can enjoy this beautiful area for years to come.” – Urban Utilities
Fulton Hogan, Urban Utilities’ delivery partner, has recommenced investigation works between Earnshaw Road and Southern Cross Way on Monday, 16 May 2022. These works will continue until the proposed site’s establishment and construction activities commence in mid-June 2022.