Upgrade underway for Bannockburn VICSES unit

AFTER years of campaigning, work is about to begin on Bannockburn VICSES’s new headquarters in Dann Road.

Minister for Emergency Services Vicki Ward, Member for Geelong Christine Couzens and VICSES Chief Officer Operations Alistair Drayton were in Bannockburn last week to announce the new site.

The facility will include training spaces, wellbeing areas and more on-site storage using environmentally sustainable materials.

“We will have our own training area and our own meeting room which enables us to set up our training area the way we want it,” training officer Steve Hicks said.

“We will have our kitchen facilities; we will have showers and toilets and all those amenities as well.

“With the motor bay we don’t have to reverse in, we can drive into the back and exit through the front which is a lot safer.”

The design process is underway, and the construction tender is expected to be released mid this year.

Ms Couzens announced during her 2022 election campaign that if elected, the new facility would be built.

The Bannockburn VICSES has been located with the CFA for more than 29 years in accommodation that was designed to house two CFA tankers and an SES truck.

Since then, both the CFA and SES have grown significantly and now have six vehicles between them.

Ms Ward thanked the Bannockburn VICSES volunteers for their work.

“The SES is full of fantastic volunteers who are so willing and ready to just drop everything and go out and help people, and help people in so many different ways,” she said.

“There’s so many reasons why people need the help of the SES and the fact that they’re so open to helping everybody they can is just phenomenal.”