Wolgan Valley Secures $3.7m in Bushfire Recovery Funding
The Association, with the support of the Mingaan Wiradjuri Aboriginal Corporation is delighted to announce the approval of its application under the joint State and Federal Government’s Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund (BLER) for an Evacuation Shelter and three water refilling stations. The $990,000 Grant will enable the Association to build a community fire shelter in the centre of the Valley. This will also serve as a community hall and emergency evacuation point with a water refilling station for fire fighting vehicles; two additional water refilling stations with pumps will be located at either end of the Valley, at the bottom of the Gap and at Newnes. The funding also provides for the development of a Valley wide fire management and ecology plan. The project will be completed in March 2023 and will work with Public Works Advisory project management services to deliver the project.
When the project is completed, it will address some of the serious deficiencies in emergency infrastructure provision in the Valley. Currently there is no emergency infrastructure for campers and day tourists in the Valley. It will also enable the Valley community to take responsibility for future fire mitigation by providing a meeting place to plan, educate and coordinate landholders in hazard reduction involving cool burning techniques. The two key community partners – landholders through the Wolgan Valley Association and Indigenous Rangers through Mingaan Wiradjuri, can work together in developing a whole of Valley plan for fire and ecology management, in partnership with the NSW Rural Fire Service, Forestry Corporation of NSW, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service and Lithgow City Council.
