By Jaidyn Kennedy
The Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) Point Cook Unit was officially opened on Friday, December 6.
SES staff, local volunteers and Point Cook MP Mathew Hilakari attended to unveil the $7.6 million facility.
The facility will feature six drive-through motor bays, a modern kitchen, training room and office space and a range of amenities including a backup generator and wheelchair access.
With the capacity to cater for up to 70 volunteers, the Point Cook Unit is set to boost emergency service presence in Wyndham and its rapidly growing population.
VICSES Point Cook unit controller Laurie Russell said he was proud to see see how far the unit and its diverse group of volunteers have come in the last 12 months.
“Our state-of-the-art facility is the perfect outlet to develop the next generation of volunteers who are driven to give back to their local community,” he said.
Mr Russell also said the unit’s roster of accredited rescue truck drivers has grown eight-fold and several volunteers now capable of safely operating a chainsaw to clear fallen debris.
Following 12 months of recruitment, Point Cook’s inaugural volunteer base has developed into one of the state’s most culturally and linguistically diverse, according to the SES.
The SES also said that many of the unit’s members have moved to Australia in the last decade.
VICSES deputy chief officer of service delivery in western region Simon White spoke about the unit’s importance to the western suburbs.
“This is an extremely exciting time for VICSES Point Cook Unit volunteers and VICSES’ Western Region, with the brand-new unit to service an important pocket of Melbourne’s western suburbs.”
The Point Cook unit volunteers will continue to build their response capacity alongside the Wyndham unit neighbours, which will entail shared training, responding to incidents together and building stronger relationships with other local emergency responders.
To learn about volunteering: www.ses.vic.gov.au/join-us.
