Emerald CFA volunteers, from left, Warren Fuller, David Wheat, Richard van Lersey and Peta MacKay will soon say goodbye to the cramped conditions of the fire station. 30645.
By Tania Martin
EMERALD firefighters will no longer have to fight for extra space as they look forward to making a new home.
The brigade has been given the green light to build a new $1 million station.
And they won’t have to move far.
At a meeting last Monday 4 May, Cardinia Shire approved an application for a new station at 5 Emerald-Monbulk Road, Emerald.
The council received eight objections to the new station by nearby residents raising concerns over neighbourhood character.
In response the plans were redesigned to fit in with the area.
Objectors also raised concerns over noise associated with the emergency siren, which led to the decision to not install one.
Instead, brigade members will be contacted for call-outs by a pager system.
Ranges Ward’s Ed Chatwin said the present station, built in 1973, had enough room for only one prime mover.
Emerald CFA Captain Paul Yandle said the station was long overdue.
“We have been waiting for this for about 20 years,” he said.
Many options for a new station have been considered over the years including combining the town’s State Emergency Service, Ambulance and CFA units all in the one centre.
But Mr Yandle said the problem with finding a block of land had always stopped the project from moving forward.
He said the unit would now get a new home with the help of the town’s Uniting Church.
The CFA bought the vacant block next to the church just around the corner from the existing station.
The new digs will feature a motor-bay room, multipurpose area, a turn-out room, a workshop, storerooms, kitchen, toilets, an office, a pergola, a 16,000-litre water tank and a hose tower.
Mr Yandle said the new station would also provide a designated training area. It would fit three tankers, which the present station struggled to fit.
“We have outgrown the station over the years, the trucks are bigger,” Mr Yandle said.
