Flooding has inundated garages and backyards at homes in one of Canberra's new residential estates.
Residents at Ginninderra Estate in the city's north-west say their properties have been flooded with water from a neighbouring reserve during heavy or prolonged rain.
The new residential estate at Holt, neighbouring the Ginninderry development at Strathnairn, is also the subject of complaints homebuyers were not told about massive power lines and towers built next to homes.
Home owners living on Lionel Rose Street at Ginninderra Estate say land outside the back of their properties has flooded with run-off that washes into their backyards and sometimes their garages.
One resident, Anthony Reeves, said rain had led to flooding on his property in November and again in February. The water ran down a slope on land outside the back of his property, pooled and had nowhere to drain, he said.
"The path that can be seen from our backyard just turns into a river," Mr Reeves said.
Water had flooded his garage in February and came close to entering the house.
It took two days for water to drain and Mr Reeves had to take a day off work to clean out his garage.
"If it happens again, if it doesn't stop raining for a while, I fear our house is going to completely flood," he said.
"We like the area and we love the house, but it's a bit frustrating because we feel like we can't do anything to the backyard to make it our own at this stage, because it will get ruined whatever we do out there.
"We just can't wait for something to get rectified and get all this behind us so we can move on."
He received the approved government plan for the area that noted the requirements to provide sufficient drainage to stop water coming onto the property.
"We purchased the property on the proviso that it was built to those approved plans. The fact that we're flooding means someone's not done their job right," Mr Reeves said.
Flooding had caused stress for his young family, which was expecting a baby in the next couple of weeks.
Mr Reeves contacted ACT government agency Access Canberra about the flooding three weeks ago. It responded to him on Wednesday after The Canberra Times asked the government about the flooding.
A former Lionel Rose Street resident, who did not want to be named, said his property had flooded on five occasions in the 18 months he lived there after February 2019.
When he complained to the government, Access Canberra did not call him until several months later, when he had already sold the property and moved away.
An ACT government spokesman said Access Canberra officers inspected the recreational area and nature reserve behind the Lionel Rose Street properties in November and discussed concerns about flooding with residents.
"The recreational area/nature reserve is accompanied with a storm water channel designed to collect and drain storm water away," the spokesman said.
However, residents said the problem was unresolved and flooding occurred as recently as February.
The ACT government spokesman said it was taking no further action about the complaints.
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