News
13 September, 2024
From award-winning to outdated
Moreton Bay Council is calling on the State Government for more funding into its Deception Bay SES Depot and Emergency Operations Centre, following the Moreton Bay SES Unit winning State Unit of the Year at this year’s SES Week State Awards ceremony on August 31.
The current, community-built Deception Bay facility faces barriers to its daily operations, including storage issues, recruitment constraints and outdated facilities, no longer meeting operational or training demands.
Mayor Peter Flannery said the dire state of the 1985 ‘shed’ is a blight on the otherwise outstanding performance of the award-winning local SES, which has to service a Council area that is the third largest in Australia.
“The Deception Bay SES Group is in the top 2 per cent of busiest SES groups in Queensland and the City has had a 182 per cent increase in SES service requests over the year, yet they are working from a poor quality shed,” he said.
The Deception Bay SES group supports over 80,000 residents, in addition to being a base for deployments across Moreton Bay and Queensland.
Last year they directly answered over 250 requests for assistance in their primary response area, as well as working across three large scale weather events, resulting in over 500 requests for assistance from Moreton Bay residents, including the flooding at the beginning of 2024.
“As we move into severe weather season, and on the back of climate change and the relentless pace of emergencies and disasters, this is now desperate,” Cr Flannery said.
“The team are doing extraordinary things, but capital funding investment by the State is needed so they can continue to ably support our community.
“We need the political parties to step up and support this team of critical volunteers with an ongoing financial commitment.”
According to Mayor Flannery, Council owns the land and “have done the scoping” and plans, committing 50/50 funding to the project.
For Council, this means allocating $3,75 million to the redevelopment 2024/25 budget.
“The volunteers’ selfless commitment and dedication to their community, and fellow citizens, should be rewarded by ensuring their facilities and fleet are worthy of them,” Cr Flannery said.
The Deception Bay SES group was awarded the Commissioner’s Cup in 2023, with the Moreton Bay SES unit receiving the same cup for Unit of the Year this year, out of 372 SES units and groups from across Queensland.
Mayor Peter Flannery said it was due recognition for the unit, who consistently punched above its weight to deliver the highest level of service to City of Moreton Bay and Queensland.
“It feels like I’m congratulating our Moreton Bay SES Unit every other week, but this is absolutely cause for celebration and well-deserved acknowledgement for the 271 current members who put in huge number of unpaid hours to keep our city and state safe,” he said.
“The Deputy Commissioner said Moreton Bay SES stood out for its outstanding dedication to sustained and continuous improvement across operational readiness, member training and unit culture.
“Cr Flannery said their focus on improvement was in response to a review that was conducted following the 2022 floods, which destroyed many homes. The review identified a host of improvements, focusing on three key areas: Capability, Culture and Capacity.
Over the past two and a half years, 93 per cent of the improvement objectives and outcomes have been implemented, with half a year to run on the plan.
“It’s worked so well that Moreton Bay SES is preparing for a major recruitment drive to increase member numbers by a further 100 to keep up with our growing city,” Cr Flannery said.
