I WISH to clear up the matters that I, Gerard Hemmings and other people that I know of who are voicing their opinions publicly and those who are speaking generally; we have no objections to Bunnings building a new store in Warwick.

It is the location that is the problem.

The location on the flood plain, above bridges that were built many years ago.

These bridges were built up on high pilings and the approaches built up on both sides, this would have done in good faith and goodwill to have the bridges above flood level to allow the traffic to run freely whilst the river is in flood.

When the Condamine really rises this does not work.

I have studied the flood situation in Warwick for many year. The McCahon Bridge in Victoria St blocks the flow in the first place, which in turn backs the water up to the OO Madsen Bridge on the highway. This causes the flood plain above these bridges to fill with huge volumes of water over a couple of thousand acres, which creates a major flood event as the flood plain is full of water before the peak of the flood gets to Warwick.

This infrastructure put in place causes enough problems without any new infrastructure displacing water and causing higher flood levels.

My belief is there is ample land out of the flood plain for Bunnings or any other new businesses coming to build in Warwick.

Mayor Dobie, Deputy Jo and co have responsibility to see that these businesses are well catered for and make it easy for them to establish themselves in town.

It is also important that mayor Dobie, Deputy Jo and Co protect the rights and values of the people living in our town of Warwick and surrounding farms, which apart from damage to crops, lucerne that is under for 12 hours dies. I lost $20,000 worth of hay when the water reached our hayshed.

Many farmers met the same fate, then there are fences and other assets.

After all these businesses that are going to be affected have been established in the town for many years, paying rates, employing people and injecting money into the shops and businesses in the main street.

We deserve without question to be protected by any sitting council and to think that any business wishing to set up in the town would respect the privileges and rights of all the homes that are up to 100 years old and for them not to build on a site that will cause further problems.

Nobody can predict flooding in the next 100 years as some people are pointing out.

Mr Wood, I should like to point out the 'one in hundred year flood events' you wishfully speak about occurred in 1976, 2010 and a week later in 2011.

In the conversation I had with Councillor Meiklejohn, he started he couldn't deal in hypothetical's, he can only deal with facts.

The computer flood modelling completed by Sinclair, Knight and Merz, (SKM) The Condamine River and Tributaries Flood Study Final Draft Report completed in November 2011 showed the water from the OO Madsen Bridge flowing back upstream and to the flood level.

This is the flood study commissioned by the council.

Another major consideration is the traffic flow, bad as it will be, what about school times for Warwick East State School?

To finish this letter I would like to know if any of you people have lived in a house that has flooded and have to go through the heartbreak and devastation of it, not so much me as I tossed stuff out of the house that was affected, hosed and cleaned and for a man that is pretty much gets you over it.

It is not that easy for women to cope with to see their possessions destroyed or damaged.

I would not wish to see anyone have the troubles, complications and expense in lifting their house out of the flood levels as we did.

It took 27 months to get the paperwork through council which was a disgrace and only for the help of ex-councillor Ross Bartley and then-councillor Jo McNally who came to see the way we were living and thought it was disgraceful that the paperwork was taking so long.

I don't know how much longer it would have taken if they had not intervened.

Yes, I do shop at Bunnings and I even do free advertising for Bunnings by wearing one of their straw hats every day.

So don't tell me I have anything against Bunnings.