Strathbogie's CFA volunteers have spent years protecting their community from a station with no running water, no toilet and no room for their own fire truck, and Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland has now pledged to rectify the situation. Ms Cleeland has committed to a brand new three-bay station for the Strathbogie brigade, with a meeting room, communications room, and female change rooms and toilets. The current station fits only two of the brigade's three trucks, forcing volunteers to keep the third on a neighbouring property. “These volunteers drop everything when the pager goes off, and they come back to a station where they can't even wash their hands,” Ms Cleeland said. “They protect this community with grit and selflessness. “In return, Labor has left them working in conditions that fall short of basic occupational health and safety standards. “Strathbogie has narrowly avoided significant fires in recent years. “Next time, we may not be so lucky. “When that day comes, our volunteers need a station that's built for the job, not one where a fire truck is parked next door. “We shouldn't wait for a major fire to expose how inadequate these facilities are. “Strathbogie needs a proper station before the next emergency, not a promise to fix it after something goes wrong.” The commitment is backed by the Liberal and Nationals' Fair Share Guarantee, locking in 25 per cent of new state infrastructure investment for regional Victoria if they are elected in the Victorian election in November. “Our CFA volunteers have never waited for perfect conditions before stepping up,” Ms Cleeland said. “They have protected this community through some incredibly difficult fire seasons. It's time we properly protected them.” Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Minister for Emergency Services, Danny O’Brien said that CFA are consistently underfunded, and volunteers need to be praised for their advocacy to their local MP. “Labor has consistently under-funded our CFA and we have a long way to go to ensure our volunteers get their fair share of infrastructure and equipment,” Mr O’Brien said. “This new station for Strathbogie is a step in that direction and it’s a credit to the hard work and lobbying of Annabelle Cleeland on behalf of her community that we are announcing this commitment.”
