Bundaberg will get a 10-year flood action plan on the completion of a new flood study, the Queensland Government says.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced last week that the Bundaberg Flood Protection Scoping study will result in a 10-year plan for major flood mitigation solutions. 

Two years ago 7000 residents of the Queensland coastal city were evacuated and 2400 properties destroyed or damaged due to Tropical Cyclone Oswald.

Ms Palaszczuk urged locals to submit their ideas to the study, which is due for completion next July.

Bundaberg Mayor Mal Forman told insuranceNEWS.com.au he hopes the study consolidates all the work already done on flood mitigation in the area.

“We welcome the study and will work with [the researchers] very closely,” he said. “I just hope when they do their scoping they can see we had a lot of good ideas.”

Since the floods the council and government have spent $17.2 million on flood mitigation projects and proposals and carried out extensive flood mapping.

Mr Forman says he wants to see the city’s three key flood mitigation proposals included in the 10-year plan

They comprise the construction of an eastern levee wall and gate on the south side of the Burnett River which flows through the city, the widening of the river at Millaquin bend and the extension of the river bridge on Hinkler Avenue.

Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) CEO Rob Whelan says flood mitigation rather than disaster relief is the way forward.

“Spending a comparatively small amount on mitigation could save hundreds of millions of dollars by preventing future damage. It may also spare the accompanying heartache and despair such disasters bring,” he said.

Mr Whelan says mitigation is also likely to reduce premiums in Bundaberg, which have risen since the 2013 cyclone and floods.

“The flood levee constructed in Roma in 2014 in response to frequent inundation saw insurance premiums plunge by hundreds of dollars for many homeowners.”

Mr Whelan says ICA and its members have also worked closely with Bundaberg Regional Council. He commended the council on its work “to map and understand the complex flooding that can occur along the Burnett River”.