Following the exercise, community members raised several questions and concerns, particularly about how the council communicated the event in advance.
In the lead-up, council promoted the exercise on social media, distributed letters to nearby residents and issued a media release the previous week.
Council’s engineering manager Zac Fitzpatrick said the matter had also been raised with the Rochester Flood Study Community Reference Committee.
“The issue was discussed with the Rochester Flood Study Community Reference Committee, who were briefed on the barriers in September 2025,” he said.
“As the barriers were acquired for emergency purposes and would only be used during an emergency and were not found to impact the wider community, a formal consultation was not considered appropriate.”
Residents raised concerns about the location of the barriers, fearing they could redirect floodwater towards nearby properties.
Questions were also raised about why council-owned buildings were prioritised for protection.
Mr Fitzpatrick said protecting the civic precinct was vital to the community’s recovery following disasters.
“The protection of community assets is of paramount importance, as keeping the civic precinct operational helps the whole community recover much faster following a flood,” he said.
“Flood modelling shows the barriers will not raise floodwater levels in the area or negatively impact on nearby homes or businesses.”
He added that during the exercise, community members passing by took an interest and stopped by to learn more about the barriers.
While the wider flood study is yet to be finalised, funding was secured for the project through the Disaster Ready Fund and Regional Flood Risk Reduction Program.
The funding was bolstered by the council and North Central Catchment Management Authority to bring the funding total to $4 million.
In addition to the civic precinct, the Rochester Early Learning Centre is also being assessed for suitability for demountable barriers.
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