By MELISSA MEEHAN
IT WAS a case of now you see it, now you don’t.
Last week the Neighbourhood Safer Places sign went up at Emerald’s Worrell Reserve, with the bright red CFA logo included for all to see.
But some residents got a little confused when they found that the logo had been covered up with a white sticker, some questioning whether the CFA had done it to show its lack of support for the site.
CFA Manager for Community Safety for District 13, Tammy Garrett said the CFA was very supportive of the NSP and said it was great to have a place for residents to go if plan A, B and C failed.
She said the logo was removed so that residents who planned to use the NSP as part of their fire plan understood that it might not be manned by emergency services in case of a fire.
“It (the NSP) is not something to rely on,” Ms Garrett said.
“If people put it as plan A they need to know there may not be water, there will be no medical or emergency services.
“It’s only a paddock.”
Ms Garrett said the CFA attended a community consultation workshop conducted by Cardinia Shire at which community members identified key messages to be included in information and materials produced by the council upon designation and announcement of the NSP.
“CFA have requested the CFA logo to be removed for the purpose of clearly advising to the community that the Emerald NSP site is the responsibility of Cardinia Shire,” she said.
“It is also to avoid confusion with the community associating the NSP-PLR as a CFA managed site.”
She said while CFA assessed the use of Worrell Reserve as being suitable for an NSP, it was important that community members understood that it should only be used as a place of last resort.
“Residents should plan to leave the Emerald area early on high risk days and have bushfire survival plans for all family members, including back-ups plans,” she said.
