Newstead Flood Levee works complete

Published on 19 December 2018

The City of Launceston has completed construction on a 700m-long flood levee in Newstead, designed to protect low lying parts of the suburb from future flood threats.

The Federal Government provided $250,000 towards the $1.2m project, with the work undertaken by Baker Building and Civil Contracting.

The levee is predominantly an earth levee, but also includes a Bauer flood gate across Hart Street and a concrete levee between Hart Street and the Hoblers Bridge Netball Centre.

Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said the levee was designed to protect Newstead residents from the same flood levels seen in Launceston in June 2016.

"The June 2016 floods resulted in a lot of damage to private and public property in the lower lying parts of Newstead," Mayor van Zetten said.

"We saw damage to private homes and outbuildings, as well as inundation of the Hoblers Bridge netball courts.

"We're very grateful to the Federal Government for their assistance in funding the project."

Tasmanian Liberal Senator David Bushby said the project would provide peace of mind to Newstead residents.

"Ideally, we'd hope this piece of infrastructure need never be properly tested," Senator Bushby said.

"However, the facts are that Launceston is a flood-prone city and we will be confronted by flood threats again in the future.

"The Federal Government understands how important flood protection infrastructure is to communities. In 2017, a CRC Research report found that during the 2016 floods, Launceston's flood levee system prevented losses of more than $216 million," Senator Bushby concluded.