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Thursday, 25 August, 2022
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Can’t get no satisfaction
Station fix pleas By Marcus Uhe
Former Devon Meadows CFA Captain (left) Andrew Swain and current Captain Nathan Thorp. 294875
gade for 15 years before handing the reigns to Mr Thorp. Of particular grievance to both the previous and current captain is the creation of a fiveyear plan documented in 2010 that prioritised Devon Meadows CFA, but nothing came to fruition. Mr Swain accused authorities of playing politics when it came to funding distributions. “It’s a big pond and we’re a little fish,” he said. Continued page 8
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ren (SES Unit). Having that is going to be fantastic but it is a bit of a kick in the guts in a way. “It’s funny how they have land and they have the money to do it and it’s like, how come we don’t? What went wrong under CFA, or how come we can’t do what they’re doing? “Unfortunately with the amount of money we do need, there is no grant out there for us to actually go out there and build something. “We need room to grow with the community in order to keep protecting it.” Previous Captain Andrew Swain led the bri-
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New emergency service stations in the region, such as the SES Unit coming to Cranbourne, or fire and police stations coming to Clyde, all had land acquired in the last 18 months. Nathan Thorp, Captain of the Devon Meadows Fire Brigade, is wondering when they’ll be next. “We are definitely forgotten about,” Mr Thorp said. “The SES Unit coming to Cranbourne is going to be a huge help for the community and it’s going to take a lot of stress off of Narre War-
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Volunteers at the Devon Meadows Fire Brigade are reluctant to hang pictures in their Finsbury Road Fire Station due to the presence of asbestos in the wall. It makes conducting maintenance and running repairs more difficult than it should be, due to the complications posed to health and safety. The station, built by members in 1946, is two separate structures merged into one. The rear of the station, which houses the brigade’s vehicles, was once the Narre Warren Fire Station, but was given to Devon Meadows some 40 years ago. With no off-street parking available on Finsbury Road, the 32 volunteers are forced to share two parking spaces at the front of the building and four at the rear, but may be required to move their cars if there’s difficulty getting the vehicles out in an emergency situation. Their hose rack is forced into a narrow alley at the side of the building bordering the fence and can takes weeks to properly dry a hose, due to the lack of sunlight it attracts. And like most suburbs in the ever-expanding South East of Melbourne, land is at a premium. The station borders the Devon Meadows Scout Hall and Glover Recreation Reserve, meaning there’s little room for an upgrade or expansion at the current site. This means that volunteers are forced to change into their breathing apparatus and protective equipment next to the fire truck while it’s running in a small enclosed space and risk inhaling fumes from the truck as the engine starts, with the clock ticking in an emergency situation to get out the door as quickly as possible. Despite numerous applications to the CFA for funding over the years, the brigade feel they have been left behind, having been rejected on the basis that there is a lack of money and land available.