Members of several Community groups, including the Residents Association (NACRA), were impressed last week with the progress towards a village Community Protection Plan being made by Community Protection Planning & Neighbourhood Safer Place Officer, Ian Cook. Ian explained to each group how he had been visiting the Cove and examining historical records over the past six months collecting information and identifying issues. Ian has been speaking with Council and the cosy chats that took place in the Cove last week are just the start of local community input into the building of the "Plan".
Ian listened carefully to both the concerns and the ideas of those participating in the meetings. He had some excellent ideas on how the Cove can be made a safer place in the event of an approaching fire - although of course the risks can never be entirely eliminated. Some of Ian's proposals will require expenditure by either Council or State Government and it is to be hoped that when the Plan is finalised the necessary funds to support it will be forthcoming.
Following his visit Ian has written:
I would like to say a big thank you for kindly organising your groups for a meet and greet this week.
Something that I noticed while I made my way around each of the meetings was the positive energy that the community has. It is often, all too easy for a community to be negative when it appears that the voice or concerns of a community are not being heard, or that matter, listened to and acted upon.
I would like to assure you that together as a whole community, we can develop a sound and well prepared Community Protection Plan. A plan that the community as a whole can own and manage. A plan that can substantially build resilience and increase awareness in the community.
Once I have collated all of the issues that I noted from the various meetings I will put together a small letter that can be inserted in the Cove news and Cove website. The community is lucky that there a 2 mediums available to keep it up to date on what is happening.
I have attached a PDF of the AIDER brochure for convenience. I would also like to encourage the spread of this assistance amongst the community.
I have also attached the link to the NSW Rural Fire Service website and the 10/50 legislation. I would also encourage residents to visit this site and read about how the 10/50 works, and how to find out if the rule is applied to individuals residents land. There is an easy step by step process to follow. It is important that each resident that may wish to explore options available to them under the new legislation to read thoroughly the Code that applies to the 10/50 rule.
http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/
plan-and-prepare/1050- vegetation-clearing Again, a big thanks, and I certainly am looking forward to working with the community
