General News
25 December, 2023
Crunch time: SES unit near demise
By CHRIS EARL THE troubled State Emergency Service unit in Wedderburn faces being shut down within weeks. A public meeting has been called for next month to revive the unit that has been plagued by resignations and disputes with regional and state...
By CHRIS EARL
THE troubled State Emergency Service unit in Wedderburn faces being shut down within weeks.
A public meeting has been called for next month to revive the unit that has been plagued by resignations and disputes with regional and state hierarchy for several years.
“The call for SES volunteers has now become a desperate plea, and, in a final effort to keep the Wedderburn SES unit open and operational,” said the service’s Loddon operations manager Brad Dalgleish.
“Recent reduction in volunteer numbers has resulted in the unit not being able to respond to road rescues, building damage, or fallen trees.
“The Wedderburn unit has been campaigning for some time to attract more volunteers, and while some have put their hands up for the task, the numbers are still not high enough to support a local emergency response team.
“There is now a desperate call out for volunteers from Wedderburn and surrounding areas to pull on the orange uniform and volunteer,” Mr Dalgliesh said. Talks were held between the SES and Loddon Shire this week ahead of the community meeting on January 15.
Mr Dalgliesh said: “Currently the Wedderburn unit is offline, relying on surrounding areas for support in responding to emergencies, which ... creates a delay in response times.”
“Unfortunately, this will be an ongoing scenario unless the unit finds new volunteers, and quickly.”
However, former unit member and deputy controller Reg Holt said SEC state chief Tim Wiebusch should attend the meeting “to address the issues that have caused the Wedderburn unit to collapse.”
“As a member of 30 years I feel I was treated in a disrespectful and dismissive manner,” Mr Holt said.
“It’s an absolute disgrace that the unit has been run into the ground by the bureaucracy at state and regional level.”
Former volunteers locked horns with SES chiefs over COVID vaccine mandates, lack of resources and installing non-local SES members in the role of co-ordinator. Some were required to undertake fresh training after being told they had ignored protocols travelling to incidents and for using private equipment to remove trees across roads.
Mr Holt and the last local controller Paul Gordon-Cooke resigned in protest earlier this year.
Former and current volunteers across Victoria have claimed this year that SES leadership appeared “deaf to their concerns”.
A recruitment drive for new members included open sessions at the unit’s headquarters with Mike Bagnall, a Macedon Ranges resident, named the new controller.
However, the unit has not seen an influx of members in the last six months.
Mr Dalgliesh said: “Community members need to consider the importance of its emergency service unit and respond accordingly.
“Perhaps take the time to think about your loved ones and the importance of their safety particularly over the Christmas New Year break, during storms, floods, and other emergencies.
“Consider their wellbeing during an emergency and ask yourself, ‘Who will be there for them in their time of need?
“All kinds of people can volunteer – active retirees, stay at home mums and dads, shift workers, young people, women and men of all ages and people from culturally diverse communities.”
The drive for SES members comes as the Wedderburn Fire Brigade has had an influx of new volunteers. with nine people now in training.