Bendigo’s firies will need to wait little while longer for their new home to be built.
The state government has confirmed that upgrades need to be completed at a temporary Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) station before a rebuild of their Hargreaves St site can commence.
Gym facilities and a “diesel exhaust capture system” will both be installed at the temporary building on Murphy St in East Bendigo, which is expected to be fully ready by October.
FRV crews will move in soon after, ahead of work on their Hargreaves St home beginning “before the end of the year”.
Confirmation of the upgrade and new timeline came through in a statement released publicly by the government late on Friday, June 12th.
“Bendigo’s firefighters have always been there for us and we’re making sure they have what they need to continue protecting the community,” Member for Bendigo East and Premier Jacinta Allan said in announcing the upgrade.
Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards welcomed the announcement, saying: “This is great news for Bendigo – we’re backing our firefighters with better facilities, backing local jobs through construction and investing in the infrastructure that will serve our community for years to come.”
Meantime, the state opposition is slamming the upgrade as an “expensive fix-it job”, noting that the Murphy St building was originally completed in June 2022 and hasn’t been occupied in the meantime.
“This temporary station has been sitting idle since 2022 because Labor bungled the initial build,” Shadow FRV Minister Nick McGowan said in a statement.
“To call this an ‘upgrade’ is a complete insult to taxpayers.
“This isn’t a bonus feature; it’s a desperate patch-up job on a multi-million-dollar failure that has sat empty for years.
“Meanwhile firefighters are still no closer to the new station they were promised in Hargreaves St in 2019.”
Are there any issues you believe Gold Central Victoria should be reporting on? Then get in-touch with us via BendigoNews@ARN.com.au
