Warrnambool’s volunteer firefighters could have their own home in the old fire station on Raglan Parade if the government’s proposed reforms pass Parliament.
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The building was initially placed on the market when the new Mortlake Road fire station was opened in April last year.
However, it has now been taken off the market until the Victorian Parliament makes a decision on the Fire Services Reform legislation which would impact Warrnambool’s integrated station
Under the proposal, Warrnambool would no longer be an integrated station, providing volunteers with the option of staying co-located at the Mortlake Road station or moving to their own premises as an independent brigade.
Warrnambool operations officer Paul Marshall said that because the CFA still owned the Raglan Parade property, it made sense that they take it off the market until a decision was made on the future of the CFA.
First Lieutenant Wayne Rooke, of the Warrnambool volunteer brigade, said that if the legislation went through, the volunteers would then vote on where they should be located. Mr Rooke said if they were to move to the Raglan Parade site, the building would require work to get it back up to scratch. He said the government had promised $44 million for the state’s 35 integrated stations and out of that, each volunteer brigade would likely get a new pumper worth between $350,000 and $400,000.
Mr Marshall said no decision had been made about the Raglan Parade site, but under the proposed legislation volunteer firefighters had the option of requesting they be an independent brigade. “They could be an independent brigade in an independent location,” he said.
However, Mr Marshall said that even if the changes went through, the volunteers and career firefighters would still work together as they do now with “some minor changes”.
If the legislation does not pass, Mr Marshall said Warrnambool would remain an integrated station with volunteers to stay at Mortlake Road and there would be no option for volunteers to have their own base.
“The community can be confident they will still have an excellent fire service provided by both volunteer and career firefighters regardless of what happens,” he said.
An inquiry into the proposed changes wound up last week and a report will go to Parliament on August 8.
Other parties had expressed interest in the old station when it was offered up under the government assets program.
