Project Update and Summary

Project Background

Anglesea Fire Brigade has served the local Anglesea community and surrounding townships for over 70 years.  The current station is located at McDougall Street Anglesea and has served the brigade well over the years however is in dire need of an update. Whilst the location of the station is good the existing building is too small, doesn’t provide adequate training facilities for the brigade and does not suitably house the brigade’s appliances and equipment.

A catalyst for the idea of the new station came from the annual Anglesea Fire Brigade Hot Shots Golf day fundraiser (first held in 2002) held in 2008 with the purpose of raising funds to renovate and partly refurbish the existing station to make it more workable. The response from the community and local business to this fundraising event was a huge success with a substantial injection of funds.

Following the overwhelming support from the community a few members of the brigade came together and decided to go one step further and rather than refurbish the existing station, developed the concept of Australia’s first six star environmentally and ecofriendly fire station.

The brigade recognised a need to redevelop and extend its station to create an “as new” facility rather than undertake a refurbishment of existing buildings, as a direct result of the Brigade’s growing membership and subsequent impact on long term accommodation and training needs. It was identified that a station upgrade would also be needed to accommodate new vehicles, as the trucks are getting bigger, the old station would be unable to house the larger vehicles. The likelihood of Anglesea receiving new trucks is high, with the change in demographics in the area there are larger residential dwellings and increasing commercial development.

Following the initial concept, members of the brigade engaged the following professionals to form the Brigade Redevelopment Group (BRG):

  • Mark Sanders- Third Ecology Architects
  • Robert Gottliebsen- businessspectator.com.au/The Eureka report
  • Kylie Warne – Warne Marketing
  • Noel Foster- CFA
  • Jamie MacKenzie- CFA

Rather than the standard station redevelopment, the Brigade, led by the Brigade Redevelopment Group (BRG) identified three key areas of focus:

  • Fire Management
  • Environment
  • Education

With the main focus on Fire Management and operational capacity the group also recognised the need to address the changing environmental needs of the area, hence the ecofriendly approach to the design and build of the new station

The growing area of Fire Education was also a focus with the Brigade identifying the current shortage of fire education to over 40,000 school aged children attending school camps in Anglesea and the visitors to the region. The initial idea to provide fire education to these children and to integrate fire education into curriculum of school camps by way of 1-2 hour sessions held at the station.

Third Ecology Architects led by Mark Sanders was engaged to develop the concept drawings for the development.

The BRG approached the local Bendigo Bank to get on board with the development. The meeting was held in the current fire station and the representatives from the bank were so impressed with the initial concept they committee $100,000 to the project with the Area manager, Mr Jeremy Morris also becoming a member of the Brigade Redevelopment Group.

With initial support from the local community and funding from Bendigo Bank the BRG approached CFA with the concept and formalised the proposal by presenting the Anglesea Fire Station Community Hub Funding Proposal. This document outlined the rationale for the new station and also the timeline and proposed sources of funding to support the development.

After meeting with the BRG, reviewing the proposal and undertaking a risk assessment of the project, CFA Region 7 General Manager and Operations Manager approved the operational design of the station and the idea of developing an all encompassing asset and hub for the community.

With the approval from CFA, a strategy to fund the development was outlined. It is estimated the redevelopment will cost in the vicinity of $1.5 million.

Funding was separated to key areas:

  • Community Funding ($500K to 2010/2011
  • Corporate Funding ($500K to 2010/2011)
  • Government Funding ($500K to 2010/2011)
  • Accumulated Interest ($100K to 2010/2011)
  • In Kind Sponsorship from industry

Warne Marketing were engaged to assist with the “call to action” and developed a website for the project - www.ourstationourfuture.com.au and with the BRG’s guidance a Project Prospectus was also developed.

Project Progress to date

Following the development of the BRG, Website, prospectus and approval from CFA, the fundraising activities have been ongoing.

The following has been achieved to date:

  • Local Business support
    • $100,000 kick-start from Bendigo Bank
    • Support from Alcoa Australia
    • In Kind Support from Boral with donation of 1000 bricks to the Buy a Brick Program
  • Local Community support
    • $100,000 raised from local community with a pledge donation system
  • Community Federal Water Grant
    • $50,000 grant to install rainwater tanks, water filters to treat water and UV equipment to filter water to drinking standards. Water will be used for training purposes and washing vehicles which has been an ongoing issue for the brigade due to the drought. A triple interceptor has been installed so when vehicles and hoses are washed with tank water, the waste water will be treated and go back to the Anglesea Water treatment plant to be further recycled and used to water the Anglesea sports grounds and Golf Club. The installation of the tanks and recycle system will form Phase One of the station redevelopment. The installation will be completed by 30th March 2010
  • Buy a Brick program
    • Sold 110 bricks and raised $30,000 to date- fundraising activity which will “sell” the right to purchasers to Name a brick that will be laid to form a wall of the new station. A fantastic opportunity for locals to contribute to the project but also have a sense of ownership of the new building. The program has been in progress for three months and a huge success, community is fully involved and supportive of project. The goal is to sell 1000 bricks. Boral have supported the project by donating 1000 bricks free of charge

The immediate future - next stages of the project

The entire project to date has successfully been driven by the dedication and hard work of a few key members of the Anglesea Brigade. There is no known project of this size and nature attempted before by a volunteer fire brigade.

The brigade have and are working tirelessly, dedicating hundreds of hours and attending and organising many meetings to ensure the community, business associations, CFA and government are aware of their vision and on board with the project. The fundraising will be ongoing and ideas such as the Buy a Brick program have the potential to raise further substantial funds for the station.

The brigade are passionate about this project and it is evident in the way in which it has been approached and developed from the initial idea.

With the brigade exhausting all options, the coming months will be a crucial time for the success of the project.

The brigade are now endeavouring to secure and formalise further support both financially and operationally from CFA to make their unique vision a reality in the very near future.