By Kath Gannaway
YARRA Ranges Council has won a prestigious state award for its work developing a regional model for emergency relief centres.
The council was presented with the 2010 Australian Safer Communities Award in the Local Government category for the Emergency Management Without Borders model on Thursday 21 October by Environment Minister Gavin Jennings and Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron at the Sir Redmond Barry Room, 55 Collins Street in Melbourne.
Yarra Ranges Mayor Len Cox said the award recognised the hours of work that had been put into reviewing and refining the emergency relief centre operations following the 2009 bushfires.
The Emergency Management Without Borders is a collaboration between a wide variety of organisations including seven councils and five agencies who have signed a memorandum of understanding and devised a set of standard operating procedures to ensure support for those affected in an emergency is mobilised without delay.
“This model is a wonderful example of communities working to support each other in their times of need,” Cr Cox said.
“We hope it is never needed but are confident of its effectiveness should a relief centre need to be activated.”
At a separate event held at the RACV Club in Melbourne on Wednesday 27 October, awards went to the Kinglake Youth Group which received a $10,000 grant from RACV Insurance as part of 2010 Fire Awareness awards to run programs such as art therapy and music workshops to help young people who have been affected by fires, and the Salvation Army Youth and Music program which is running programs in Healesville and Yarra Glen as well as other bushfire areas.
