SERPENTINE’S promised new station could be the last of six listed for construction on the Country Fire Authority’s 2022-2023 procurement plan.
An official sod turning marked the start of the Metcalfe station project on Sunday,
The State Government on Tuesday told the Loddon Herald there would be a mid-year start at Serpentine.
New stations earmarked on the CFA’s procurement list three years ago have been finished at Beaufort, Wydham Vale and Pyalong.
Only the Riddells Creek station remains in limbo after Macedon Ranges Shire refused a planning permit for the new location. 
Riddells Creek has been waiting for what was originally a $3 million new building since first promised in 2019 for a 2021 completion.
The procurement list shows Serpentine was to have gone to tender in the first quarter of 2023, almost two years after funds were included in the State Government.
Earlier this year, the CFA said the work would start on the Serpentine station costing $3.,2 million in February with construction to finish next year.
Northern Victoria Region MP Wendy Lovell last week raised concern about continued delays in State Parliament.
“The constant delays are deeply frustrating for the Serpentine CFA brigade, who had lobbied for a new station for over a decade prior to the 2021 funding commitment, and desperately need modernised facilities to deliver the best firefighting capability,” she said.
A Government spokesperson said: “The Community Safety Building Authority continues to work closely with Country Fire Authority in the design and delivery of the new Serpentine fire station.”
“A competitive market tender process has been completed, and a head contractor has been selected to build the new facility.”
According to the Government, the Serpentine build is expected to start in the middle of this year.
“The project is fully funded to deliver this contemporary fire station to meet the community’s needs,” it said. “The latest operational requirements have been updated and included throughout the design process to assure this new station will have the most up-to-date capability when opened.”
Enquiries to the CFA on delays to a start at Serpentine have been referred to Department of Justice and Community Safety.
No explanation has been given for latest delays on a start at Serpentine.
- CHRIS EARL