A small rural fire brigade which was told it would have to wait five years for construction of its new fire station has now been told it must wait yet another 12 months.
Funding to replace Winnindoo fire station between Rosedale and Heyfield was announced in October 2020 and has been repeatedly delayed ever since.
Local volunteers have now been told, and the State Government has confirmed, that the construction has been pushed back a further 12 months.
The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien said this is a scandalous case of incompetence from the Labor Government.
“Six years from announcement to completion to get a new, small rural fire station is an absolute joke even for this Government.
“It’s now way past embarrassing for this Government that a small country fire station announced in October 2020 won’t be completed until 2026. It’s yet another fire season that the volunteers will be left to put up with sub-standard facilities – no toilet, no kitchen and no change facilities.
“This is such an insult to our hard-working CFA volunteers who have been campaigning for a new station for years. They were overjoyed when the funding announcement came but now they’ve been severely let down.
“Maybe if they were members of the UFU or CFMEU they’d get better attention from this Labor Government?
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage projects and it’s our CFA volunteers that are paying the price.”
Mr O’Brien said he will continue to campaign for Winnindoo and other fire brigades throughout Gippsland.
“Despite a massive increase in the fire services property levy this year, the CFA budget has in fact been cut by $4 million, begging the question where has the money gone?
“Labor has repeatedly insulted and neglected our CFA volunteers and it seems only a change of government will improve the situation.”