Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Country Fire Authority Riddells Creek station

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (19:16): (1783) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Emergency Services. The action that I seek is for the minister to expedite construction of a new fire station in Riddells Creek and explain why the state government has taken so long to deliver this urgently needed project. Country Fire Authority volunteers in Riddells Creek work tirelessly to protect their local community from fires, and they lend a hand to other local brigades in need when big fires threaten the area. The existing fire station in Riddells Creek was built in 1984 and is now over 40 years old. It no longer meets the needs of the brigade, and it is truly past its use-by date. Volunteers put their lives on the line every week when they respond to call-outs to keep their community safe, and they deserve the facilities and equipment they need to fight fires safely and effectively.

But this brigade has been cruelly let down over and over again by a Labor government that prefers making big announcements over delivering projects on time and on budget. A week before the 2018 election the member for Macedon turned up at the Riddells Creek fire station to take photos in front of a tanker and promise $950,000 to bring the station up to scratch. A year later that election promise was scrapped and replaced by a grander promise. The 2019–20 state budget then allocated $3 million to purchase land for a new site and build a bigger and better new fire station for Riddells Creek that would meet modern standards. In June 2019 the member for Macedon turned up once more for pictures in front of a tanker to announce $3 million for a new station and then said that construction was expected to be completed by the end of 2021. That was four years ago. It is now 2025, and work on the new fire station in Riddells Creek has not even started.

The age and limited space of the existing station is actually hindering the brigade’s ability to upgrade their firefighting capacity. In 2019 they had to turn down a tanker that was intended for the brigade because the station did not have the capacity to accommodate it. The Riddells Creek brigade is missing out on new equipment and volunteers because the existing facilities are not adequate to service the brigade’s needs. This is bad for the brigade, and it is also bad for the community that relies on them to save property and save lives when dangerous fires break out.

Land for the new site has now been acquired by the state government, but there are doubts about whether it meets the CFA requirement for a 55-metre frontage for new stations. The Allan Labor government has made big promises to the Riddells Creek community and fire brigade but has failed to deliver. It is now seven years since the member for Macedon first promised improved and expanded facilities for the tireless volunteers of Riddells Creek CFA, but work has still not started. I call on the Minister for Emergency Services to urgently intervene and finalise the site and expedite the construction of a new Riddells Creek CFA station.