THREE RFS BRIGADES BENEFIT FROM BUSHFIRE FUNDING
The bushfire impacted communities of Lake Innes, Bonny Hills and Johns River will receive a critical boost to their recovery and future responses with upgrades to their Rural Fire Service (RFS) Brigades to be delivered through Stage Two of the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund, co-funded by the Australian and NSW Goverments.
Federal Member for Lyne, Dr David Gillespie and Member for Port Macquarie, Leslie Williams said almost $1.785 million will enable upgrades to be undertaken that will deliver important infrastructure improvements and increase the safety of our local communities.
The projects funded include:
$921,508 to the Lake Innes RFS to upgrade the Fire Station to include a community hub that offers a meeting room, a social area, and a community refuge area. This will involve the construction of a fire-resistant structure with a fire-rated and insulated roof. A new backup power source will support emergency communications.
$463,400 for the Johns River RFS to construct a new stationhouse with vital amenities, including a meeting room, an accessible shower, change rooms, and toilets. The new station house will act as a shared operations center for the Rural Fire Service and other agencies and as a community hub during crises.
$400,000 to Bonny Hills RFS to upgrade the existing Fire Station, improving the brigade's ability to respond to natural disasters, including fire, floods, and storms. It will expand the station to include space for additional firefighting appliances; a training room; a separate area for maintaining vehicles and equipment; a change room for female members; and safe storage area for flammable or hazardous chemicals.
Dr Gillespie said these projects have a strong focus on improving community resilience for future emergency events.
“I hope these upgrades will further bolster the volunteer ranks of our local RFS brigades, these were some dark days and we owe them and their colleagues who assisted from near and far a great debt of gratitude,” Dr Gillespie said
Mrs Williams said we should all be so proud of our local RFS bridage volunteers who worked long, hard and exhausting hours protecting homes, property and life during the devasting bushfires of 2019/2020.
“I am so pleased that these upgrades will now be able to start and will greatly improve these vital facilities making the fire stations more comfortable and functional for volunteers,” Mrs Williams said.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Disaster Recovery John Barilaro said the diverse nature of the Stage Two Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund projects was driven by the specific recovery needs of each community and guided by locally led applications.
“One year has passed since we cleared 3,600 properties damaged or destroyed by the Black Summer bushfires and we are continuing to deliver the support that local communities needs to keep moving forward in recovery,” Mr Barilaro said.
The Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Package is one part of the $4.5 billion overarching bushfire support program co-funded by the Australian and NSW Governments for bushfire recovery, response and preparedness in NSW.