Grimley joins calls for Armstrong Creek fire station

CALLS for the Armstrong Creek fire station to be built are getting louder, with Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party state leader Stuart Grimley adding his voice to those questioning where and when the emergency services facility would be built.

A fire station for the growth area was first proposed ahead of the 2018 state election, with both the Labor and Liberal parties making commitments to build it.

Labor’s pledge, made by then-Minister for Emergency Services James Merlino and then-Labor candidate for South Barwon Darren Cheeseman, was for a new $8.18 million three-bay fire station with bedrooms as a base for 21 career staff to support surrounding volunteer firefighters, with funding then earmarked in the 2018/19 State Budget.

The City of Greater Geelong identified a parcel of land on Boundary Road near the corner of the Surf Coast Highway on the northern border of Armstrong Creek in 2014 for an emergency services precinct.

The fire station is slated to be built there, although there were reports in 2019 that Labor had bought land for the station on McCanns Road in Mount Duneed in the Surf Coast Shire, and criticism at the time from the Liberals about how that site was six minutes’ drive away from Armstrong Creek.

According to the 2021-22 State Capital Program, released as part of the 2021/22 State Budget, the fire station is not expected to be built until the fourth quarter of the 2022-23 financial year.

Mr Grimley, who represents Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party in Victoria’s upper house, spoke about the wait for the fire station on the floor of the Legislative Council last week, directing his questions to Minister for Emergency Services Jaclyn Symes.

“To think the election is merely months away and local residents in the Armstrong Creek Growth Area still have no idea if, or where, their promised fire station is going is disappointing,” Mr Grimley said earlier this week.

“The delay of this project shows either sheer incompetence, or utter contempt for Armstrong Creek locals.

“I live in Armstrong Creek, and I have seen the exceptional growth firsthand. In the 2016 census there were just over 6,000 residents and in the 2021 census there were more than 20,000 residents. We are expecting up to 60,000 people in 2030.

“This government needs to stick to their word and get this station built. The same thing has happened with the Armstrong Creek ambulance station and the fifth Warrnambool train service. All promised, nothing delivered.”

He said “there was no reason whatsoever” for the delay, and hoped he would receive an answer before September 15, the final sitting day before the state election.

Mr Cheeseman did not respond to questions from this paper about if Labor had ever bought or still owned the McCanns Road site, or about Labor’s intentions for that site.

“Victoria’s fire services – including its firefighters and volunteers – work tirelessly to protect lives and properties across the state and the Armstrong Creek community should be in no doubt that they are well protected,” Mr Cheeseman said.

“Our fire services reforms are ensuring the Victorian community continues to receive the highest quality service response now, and long into the future, wherever they live.

“FRV [Fire Rescue Victoria] is pursuing a site for a new fire station for Armstrong Creek on Boundary Rd – and we will have more to say about that soon.”