A community meeting has been held to raise concerns regarding the non-opening of Lake Conjola during last week's flooding.
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The community, as they continue to recover from the recent flood, is now calling for Shoalhaven City Council to be investigated.
Lake Conjola residents say they have been let down by the council's lack of action when it comes to opening the lake.
Some community members are calling for Shoalhaven City Council to be dismissed.
"This community should not have to deal with this ever again," resident Allison Hopkins said.
"We don't want council to have any say over this lake and the impact on this community."
Member for South Coast Liza Butler and Shoalhaven City Councillor Patricia White also addressed the community at the meeting.
Ms Butler said she has spoken with the Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib, the Minister for Crown Lands Stephen Kamper and the Reconstruction Authority regarding the flooding and non-opening of the lake.
"I want to make sure that everything that could be done is being done for this community," she said.
"Moving forward, I want sensible decision making around the opening."
Ms Butler said she will keep the community informed of any updates from the NSW Government regarding the community's concerns.
Cr White said she has been a councillor since 2012 and has seen the flooding impacts in the Lake Conjola community.
"Since 2012 I can't tell you the number of times I've stood on the council floor and begged other councillors to support me in getting this fixed once and for all," she said.
Council response
Shoalhaven City Council has previously responded to the community's concerns.
A spokesperson said "even if the lake had been opened earlier, similar levels would have been observed due to heavy rainfall conditions and ocean conditions".
The spokesperson also said the area was not predicted to be hit by such a downfall.
"The storm on Tuesday night was not predicted to hit Shoalhaven by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), with the storm direction changing overnight and rainfall significantly exceeding the BoM forecast," the spokesperson said.
They also said a "Lands Licence agreement" was abided by.
"Council had deployed excavators to nearby locations to be on standby to manually open the lake if it reached the planned opening level of 1m AHD, as per the NSW Crown Lands Licence agreement," the spokesperson said.
Community members have put together a draft statement for the Office Local Government asking for an investigation of Shoalhaven City Council.
