The Seymour CFA are maintaining their advocacy for a new site in town to ensure they can continue to serve and protect the community in a timely manner.
The current site on Gordon Crescent poses significant challenges for the brigade, impacting turn out times and creating traffic chaos on the busy dual lane Anzac Avenue.
The Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland visited the facility to see firsthand the difficulties facing the brigade.
“Bart and his amazing volunteers at the Seymour CFA have been raising the need for a new site in town for an incredibly long time,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Their location means three point turns to get the trucks out of the shed and an absolute nightmare to reverse trucks back into the shed.
“Once the trucks are out and ready to go, they turn onto Anzac Avenue and if they’re turning left the truck can’t complete a full turn without facing oncoming traffic and crossing the median strip.
“This is a serious traffic and safety hazard and a constant concern for volunteers answering emergency calls.”
The brigade is failing to meet target turn out times due to the physical constraints of the facility.
“The volunteers here are incredibly selfless and yet on paper they’re missing the mark purely because of the poor location of the facility,” Ms Cleeland said.
“A new site in town would allow the brigade to build a new facility, eliminate safety issues and smash their target times.”
With the budget looming in May, Ms Cleeland said the CFA could not afford budget cuts to patch the financial mismanagement of the Andrews Government.
“Last year we saw a paltry $7.6 million set aside for new asset infrastructure for the CFA,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Our volunteers are upstanding citizens, working to protect the community in difficult circumstances. They deserve the best facilities to support their work.”