By Bridget Vallence
Our community recently marked the anniversary of the 9 June 2021 storms that ravaged townships right across the Yarra Ranges. Floods in Yarra Glen and Coldstream, and cyclonic winds ripping 100- metre trees clear out of the ground across roads and properties from Mooroolbark, Lilydale, Mt Evelyn and Montrose, right up to Kalorama, Olinda and Mt Dandenong. The homes of around 80 families were utterly devastated that night. Tens of thousands of residents were cut off from power and water for weeks. I take the opportunity to again thank the tremendous efforts of all emergency services who responded, including volunteers at Lilydale SES, Emerald SES, all our local CFA Fire Brigades, and the Yarra Ranges Police. Thank you to all members of the community who helped in whatever way—offered shelter, volunteered at the community foodbank, donated food or blankets, or simply offered support as residents came to terms with the devastation.
Twelve months on, our communities continue to grapple with the long-lasting impacts. You only need to drive around the area to see the damage and the troubling levels of fallen trees and debris around the Silvan Reservoir. We’re still waiting for adequate disaster-relief funding to be released by the Andrews Labor government, and they have made no attempt to improve telecommunications infrastructure and provide a reliable and resilient network that our communities deserve. Local emergency services are frustrated that communications services have not been improved for several years despite the government knowing about the problem.
Sadly, there are still people without homes. Recently some residents were told they’d be unable to rebuild their homes because of a 1 in 100,000-year probability of a landslip on their property. Residents have suffered enough, and I have requested the Andrews government urgently intervenes to help these residents rebuild their homes. After the Black Saturday bushfires, exemptions were put in place to allow people to rebuild. There is no reason why this can’t be done for these Yarra Ranges residents. I’ve contacted the Planning Minister and will be doing everything I can to support these residents to rebuild their homes that were so cruelly taken away from them.
After listening to SES volunteers and receiving feedback from residents after the storms, I am delighted that our Victorian Liberals’ recovery plan includes building a new SES unit in the Olinda/Mt Dandenong area, which will enable rapid response in the hills and increase the emergency services capacity right across the Yarra Ranges.
