The Yarrawonga township continues to outgrow its 29-year-old fire station with brigade members and local MPs once again appealing for funding from the Victorian Government for a new station.
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Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell and Member for Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy have continually raised the issue in parliament and believe it is unacceptable that no investment has been forthcoming in that time.
“Currently Yarrawonga is high on the CFA priority list, but we have been lobbying parliament for it to be high on the government priority list and added to the state budget, to no avail so far,” Ms Lovell said.
“The station as it stands now has three bays but needs at least four.
“All fire sheds in present day are also supposed to be drive in but this one is outdated. Fire trucks have also changed so much in the last 30 years in terms of size especially and the modern-day ones just do not fit.
“The Yarrawonga crew also assists other stations including Mulwala, Bundalong, Tungamah and Wilby so they need to have the space to store all that is needed to complete their duties.
“The volunteers deserve so much better. It is unacceptable.
“Mr McCurdy and I have taken this to parliament on numerous occasions for the government to make this a priority in the state budget but it still has not been added.
“I urge the minister to act immediately and fund a new fire station. Yarrawonga needs a new fire station.”
The Yarrawonga Fire Brigade has been protecting the Yarrawonga community for over 125 years, with a great number of volunteers still putting their own lives on the line to protect the community while still using the existing station which was opened in 1994 when the town was much smaller.
Yarrawonga Fire Brigade Captain Cade Phillips said it is frustrating for a town the size of Yarrawonga, that continues to grow at a rate of knots, to not be able to receive funding to upgrade an out-of-date station.
“The Yarrawonga community has far outgrown the space, four command trucks don’t fit in the station we have and that is at least what we need to service Yarrawonga at its current rate of growth,” Mr Phillips said.
“If we were able to get a bigger station, we would also be able to acquire better equipment and two new trucks.
“We have been looking since around 2010 for funding for a new station and we have still not received it.
“In the last 28 years since the station was built there have been plenty of changing needs of the station including OH&S. OH&S standards have changed hugely in the last 25 years and the current station fails to meet those standards.
“We want to stay on the current crown leased location as its central to our needs and we understand we are on top of the priority list for the CFA, but we need to act now to keep up with the continual growth of the town.”
Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Brad Battin visited Yarrawonga and the fire brigade last Thursday seeing for himself
“Wendy and Tim have been coming down and speaking to us quite regularly about some of the issues up here especially with the growth of the area and if you are to have a growing community you have to have the facilities and infrastructure to serve that community,” Mr Battin said.
“That includes obviously emergency services, the volunteers here do an amazing job but if you are going to continue to treat them with a second-rate facility then you are going to get less and less volunteers.
“This should be very high on the government’s priority. We understand that it is pretty high on the priority list already but no-one has acted to put the money in the budget.
“It needs to be something that everyone takes seriously so if we get in the first thing we will do is review that priority list to see where the importance is in the area.
“When you have a group like Yarrawonga who are supporting so many other stations, then it should be something we take seriously.
“Community and volunteer safety is imperative and this can only be supported with up to date infrastructure and equipment.”
Mr McCurdy who was also at the CFA last week and said the current 1994 built station needs to be demolished and a complete rebuild achieved otherwise upgrades to the current station would just
“It is just too outdated,” Mr McCurdy said.
“Yarrawonga is being held back from getting new trucks as they will not fit into the current space and the crew do not have the space.
“They currently have a command vehicle not housed in the station because they simply can’t keep it in there with the trucks they also have, all of which are required to be a CFA station.
“Now almost 30 years after the station was originally built, the brigade has more women volunteers who are not catered for in terms of changing spaces and showers.
“The brigade want to stay in the same location they are in as it is so central to their needs but if the station was to expand on its current site they would have to acquire a bit of council land which we have been speaking to council about.
“With Yarrawonga being one of the fastest growing populations in Victoria, it is ridiculous that we can’t acquire the funding to update an outdated fire station that defends the community.”