Flooding is a reality of life in Ipswich. We know that flooding will happen again and is a natural part of the lifecycle of a river system. When it does happen, we want a city that is informed, ready and resilient.

Consequently, as part of the implementation of Council’s Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan, we are investigating solutions for improving flood emergency preparedness, response and recovery in the suburbs of Karalee and Barellan Point via the Karalee Emergency Access Feasibility Study.

This study will be developed in general alignment with the Queensland Government State Guideline for Flood Evacuation Routes and incorporate targeted stakeholder engagement to help inform the study.

The first phase of engagement aimed to understand the community's experiences and needs regarding flood events and emergency accessibility in the suburbs of Karalee and Barellan Point.

Council then used the feedback from phase 1, in conjunction with technical assessments, to identify proposed solutions for the community. The results of these assessments were discussed at the Karalee Community Association meeting held on 30 October 2024, and the community were able to share feedback on five proposed solutions.

Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback. See a summary of what you shared. We have now finalised the recommendations of the project and developed the Feasibility Study Report.

Council officers provided a presentation on the final report outcomes at the Karalee Community Association meeting held at the Karalee State School on 24 September 2025 at 7pm.

Through a combination of technical analysis and insights gathered during the initial phase of community engagement, multiple options were identified to help address community concerns relating to Karalee and Barellan Point emergency access and support during flood events. To evaluate the shortlisted options, the State Guideline for Flood Evacuation Route Improvements – Supporting Tool was applied to conduct a Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA). This approach considers criteria such as:

• safety impacts,
• economic impacts,
• environmental and cultural heritage impacts,
• social impacts,
• flood behaviour impacts,
• and additional constraints.

Each option was evaluated to determine their key benefits and constraints, followed by the application of the MCA to derive an overall performance score. A high-level summary of the assessment results can be seen below.

These five options were shared with the community for feedback. While the engagement results identified that the community’s preferred option was not the MCA’s top-ranked choice, respondents generally supported all proposed solutions, with none being entirely dismissed and therefore excluded from further consideration.

Reflecting on the outcomes of the second community engagement exercise and the MCA results, the approach of packaging multiple options together was considered preferrable as it supports a broader range of residents and ensures a more comprehensive response to flood emergencies by both mitigating risk and improving accessibility.

Consequently, the preferred option identified within the final report is to progress with a combination of:

• Raise Junction Road profile with bulk earthworks and culverts (between Albatross Avenue and Torrens Street)
• Raise Arthur Summervilles Road with bulk earthworks and culverts (between Gascoyne Drive and Ludwig Lane)

The report also recommends the implementation of complimentary measures where possible. This includes a community education campaign, formalising emergency access tracks in the lower lying southern areas of the suburb and providing additional emergency resources to Karalee State School.

At this stage, the funding received for this project has now been exhausted, and any further work taken will be subject to future grant funding. Council will look to identify appropriate grant funding opportunities to facilitate future concept design of the preferred option, a hydraulics analysis, cost/ benefit analysis and further community engagement activities in order to progress the project.