‘It’s a failure to fulfil a commitment’: Promised rebuilds not delivered five years on from Black Summer fires

Residents in the bushfire-hit towns of Mallacoota and Marlo are pleading with the Allan government to get moving on promised construction work still not delivered since the devastating fires of 2019-20.

Communities devastated by bushfires in Victoria’s east are furious and “disappointed” they are still waiting for promised rebuilding to begin five years on from the horror Black Summer blazes.

Mallacoota and Marlo residents have pleaded with the Victorian government to get moving on promised construction of tourist accommodation, jetties and bridges.

But despite funding being allocated and plans well advanced, nothing has happened.

The government has defended the delays, saying rebuilding after natural disasters is “complex”.

Residents are still waiting for the promised rebuild to begin. Picture: David Caird

The bushfires swept through in 2019-20, destroying 120 homes in Mallacoota, dozens more in surrounding communities, and coastal tourist cabins in Cape Conran.

In mid-2020, then-minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced more than $30m in tourism projects that would be built “soon” and “bigger and better”, but locals say no progress has been made.

The delayed projects include jetty repairs around Mallacoota Lake, which were allocated $3m. There were also plans to rebuild 10 of the 13 cabins destroyed in Cape Conran, plus a $13.5m bike path planned from Marlo to Cape Conran.

There was a major evacuation from fire-hit Mallacoota. Picture: David Caird

Shayne Boyd, president of the Marlo Ratepayers and Residents Association, slammed the delays.

“It’s community-wide, this frustration, because it’s a failure to fulfil a commitment,” she said. “The tardiness means stimulation for the local economy isn’t there.”

She said multiple community groups had written to government ministers to complain and to try and get construction moving, but with no result.

People have also complained about other infrastructure in the area not being fixed even before the fires.

Bushfires swept through the region in 2019-20. Picture: Getty

The Thurra River bridge had not been completed, meaning no access to iconic Point Hicks and the second-biggest campground in the region at Thurra River.

Several tourist walks also remain closed in East Gippsland from both the fires and 2022 flood damage. These include the Dunes Track, Saros Track, Sledge Track, the Wingan Inlet Rapids Walk and Betka Track.

Gippsland East MP Tim Bull said it was concerning that the government had not made any progress on the project commitments despite the promises.

Former premier Daniel Andrews “came down here after the fires and said they (the government) would walk in step with the community to recovery,” Mr Bull told the Herald Sun.

He added that neither he or his successor Jacinta Allan had been back since.

He also questioned whether other fire-ravaged communities, such as the Grampians, would experience similar ­issues.

A Victorian government spokesman said: “Disaster recovery work is complex and can be hampered by subsequent disasters – as has happened in Victoria in the last few years with floods and fires.”

Originally published as ‘It’s a failure to fulfil a commitment’: Promised rebuilds not delivered five years on from Black Summer fires