Help for those who need it most

THE municipal Building Resilience in a City in a Forest project is seeking to keep residents and visitors safe in emergency situations.

Heathcote Community House’s executive officer Vicki Forde has been involved with the project and she said it aimed to build capacity within specific regions by recognising gaps in resources, and then identifying achievable solutions.

“Heathcote is one of the places that’s been targeted,” she said. “This is because of the likely impact of emergency situations such as flood or fire on the community.”

Ms Forde said changes in disability service provision had led to gaps in identifying those who might need more assistance during an emergency than others.

“It has raised questions such as ‘how do you reach the socially isolated, or the people that are caring for, or that have, have a disability of some kind?’,” she said.

“How do they access the everyday resources that are available?

“Before NDIS there was a process to cover emergency planning, but that no longer happens.

“Because of course there’s all these other needs that get met first, so that was identified as a gap.

“A vulnerable person register doesn’t work like it used to because of privacy legislation.”

As part of the The City in a Forest project The City of Greater Bendigo is inviting residents to a community workshop on Saturday 24 June.

People can also complete a survey by Monday 31 July to help identify current levels of emergency preparedness across the municipality.

For more information and to access the survey visit the municipal community consultation website Let’s Talk Bendigo.