Wednesday, 9 February 2022

Country Fire Authority Chiltern brigade

Ms LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (18:06): (1724) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Emergency Services. The action that I seek is for the minister to facilitate the acquisition of donated land on the Beechworth-Chiltern Road, Chiltern, and to commit funding for a new three-bay fire station and local command facility. The site has also been identified as a suitable location for a future ambulance station to be co-located with the CFA and is large enough to facilitate this.

The Chiltern fire brigade has a proud history of protecting the residents of Chiltern and the wider community for over 140 years. For the past five years the brigade has been seeking to identify suitable land for the construction of a new, fit-for-purpose fire station. The current station last underwent some renovations in 2005, but the facility no longer meets the needs of the brigade or the community it protects. The layout of the station makes it unsafe for volunteers, with the brigade forced to store personal protective clothing in the engine bay, close to reversing trucks. There is also only one toilet on site for the 44 operationally active volunteers, 25 per cent of whom are female, and female change facilities are badly needed.

Recognising the need for an alternate site to ensure the Chiltern fire brigade remains sustainable into the future, a search for available land options has been underway for some time, without success. That was until a local landowner recently approached the brigade to propose that he donate an adequately sized parcel of land to build the new station, providing that the government covers the cost of the subdivision of the land and the connection of power, water and sewerage to the block, which would also benefit his remaining land. The approximately 5600-square-metre parcel of land in Chiltern fronts the Beechworth-Chiltern Road between the Hume Freeway and the railway line.

A CFA analysis of fire history over a five-year period, of current member residential addresses and of road speed modelling from the proposed parcel of land to an 8- to 10-minute radius has shown that the location is a more than acceptable option for a new station. I am informed that Ambulance Victoria wish to establish an ambulance station in Chiltern and have indicated their desire to share the donated land with the brigade. The parcel of land is large enough to house both the CFA and Ambulance Victoria facilities, and its location near the Hume Freeway would reduce emergency response times. I am also informed that CFA district 24 management are overwhelmingly supportive of this project and have since submitted a memorandum to the land and building department recommending the procurement of the land in conjunction with Ambulance Victoria as a future site for a joint service delivery location for Chiltern.