Council resolved at their meeting in Boorowa on Wednesday night, to endorse the commencement of the planning phase for a combined Boorowa Brigade Fire Service station. The resolution follows a request received by Council last year to consider, in principle, supporting the provision of suitable land for a purpose-built station to be located at Boorowa Showground. The station is for combined use of the Gunnary, Boorowa Support, Boorowa North and Boorowa Hughstonia Brigades. The intention of the request was to allow for planning to commence to assist with further budget bids. The Council report states that the Boorowa Support Brigade is currently the only one of the four to have a RFS Station.
Providing one station, instead of four, is far more cost efficient, with the Brigades “able to retain their individuality whilst also sharing resources such as meeting facilities and toilets,” according to the Council report. It is believed that Boorowa Showground is a central location for the four brigades, and tankers would still be able to be positioned within the brigades areas on high risk fire days. As it stands, the RFS has no funding allocation for the project, and as such they sought in-principle support from Hilltops Council to provide suitable land.
Although Council provided in principle support for the project, the RFS was advised that Hilltops would still be seeking the full development application fees. Providing the NSW RFS approves funding for a single large station, it is not thought there will be extra funding contribution required from Council. At the moment, Hilltops already makes a predetermined annual contribution towards the Rural Fire Fighting fund. Cost estimates to be found within the report, estimate that a double bay brigade station with toilet and kitchenette will be valued at around $180,000. A five bay station with amenities would be expected to be valued around $550,000.
