Tuesday, 20 June 2023

State Emergency Service Tatura unit

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (21:18): (294) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Emergency Services and concerns the need to relocate the Tatura SES headquarters. The action that I seek is for the minister to relocate the Tatura SES headquarters from its current location to vacant land next to the Tatura fire station in O’Reilly Road, Tatura. The Tatura State Emergency Service unit is a small but hard-working unit providing emergency assistance to the Greater Shepparton community. Despite having only a few members, the Tat SES punches well and truly above its weight, with the latter part of 2022 being a very busy time for the unit. The October flood event was extremely challenging for the unit, which answered 460 requests for assistance in an 11-day period. Over a three-day period, seven volunteers managed all emergency incidents in Mooroopna, which was a truly remarkable effort. And then in December a large hailstorm lashed the Tatura area, resulting in the SES unit again responding to many calls for assistance.

As I stated earlier, the Tat SES currently only has a few active members, and an unfortunate barrier to attracting new members is the unit’s location directly opposite an operating abattoir in Russell Street. More specifically, the SES headquarters is on the north side of the abattoir, and the Tatura SES unit members have informed me that unfortunately the northern section of the abattoir is where the treatment plant for the animal excrement is and is also the area where the innards and any waste from carcasses are stored prior to disposal. As such, a putrid odour emits from this section of the abattoir, which makes for extremely uncomfortable working conditions for volunteers when they are at their headquarters.

The smell is also proving a deterrent for prospective new members and is deterring them from joining the unit when they initially visit the headquarters. The Tatura Fire Brigade relocated to a new fire station in November 2020 on the corner of O’Reilly Road and Ross Street near the Tatura Racecourse. This location is to the south of the abattoir, adjacent to the meat-packing section and free of repugnant odours. On the east side of the new fire station is a vacant block of land that would be an ideal location for the new headquarters for Tat SES. The relocation of the SES unit to this site would be advantageous in that it would improve the working conditions of the volunteers, particularly regarding the odour emitting from the abattoir, as well as locate two emergency services within close proximity to each other. This is a commonsense solution to improve the current working conditions of the Tatura SES volunteers, and I call on the minister to make it happen.