East Gippsland residents still without homes after fires
Hundreds of homeowners in East Gippsland are still living in caravans and sheds nine months after the devastating New Year bushfires, with many heartbroken residents now declaring they‘ve been abandoned.
Victoria
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Just a handful of homes have been rebuilt in East Gippsland after the devastating New Year bushfires, leaving families to live in caravans and sheds for months.
Delays in site clearing and planning permit approvals have slowed the recovery for hundreds of homeowners, nine months on from the terrifying blazes that burnt from the mountains to the sea and claimed five lives.
While some residents have walked away from their properties, frustrations continue for families and communities trying to rebuild their lives, reeling from the impacts of bushfires and COVID-19.
In Buchan, not one house has been rebuilt and just one shed of the 200 lost structures has been constructed.
In Mallacoota, just six houses have risen from the ashes from the more than 100 homes lost.
Buchan resident Donald Graham described the bureaucratic challenges as a “fathomless hole”.
Several East Gippsland residents told the Herald Sun that the rebuild was being hampered by red tape and issues, including.
INSURANCE gaps – where the cost of rebuilding, especially to new fire safety ratings, is much higher than the amount insured.
PRESSURES and costs of trying to attain the appropriate Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) for the new house. This can add tens of thousands of dollars to construction costs.
A SHORTAGE of builders and other tradespeople in the region.
CFA veteran Bob Carney and wife Linda are hoping to rebuild on their property outside Buchan but have been living in a caravan since January.
“The BAL (bushfire) ratings are pushing the prices up for everyone. But we’ll get there,’’ he said.
Some residents have moved away, unable to face rebuilding on sites that held so many bad memories. Others are taking the opportunity to move to another location but staying in their community.
Residents across the region said they were overwhelmed by the support and generosity of fellow Victorians who gave money, resources or their time in the wake of the fires that burnt 11,324 sq km — or 54 per cent — of East Gippsland.
Of the $36 million donated by the public, $20 million has been spent including more than $10 million in payments to people who lost their homes, $1.5 million for BlazeAid and more than $400,000 for family violence prevention. The rest will be spent on medium and long-term community-led recovery initiatives.
East Gippsland Shire Council is running a free support service to help homeowners rebuild.
Council planners have received 76 applications, with 57 permits approved, latest figures show.
East Gippsland Mayor John White said several news homes were now being built with owners hoping to be in by Christmas.
“I think the council has been unfairly targeted over some of the issues because there are other referring agencies such as DELWP, water authorities and CFA who are involved in most applications,’’ Cr White said.
The clearing of debris from 736 sites was completed in August by Grocon while more than 50 people who lost homes had taken up an offer of short-term modular housing.
State MP for East Gippsland Tim Bull said the clean-up was promised to start in January but by April 1 only 10 properties had been cleared.
”So we’ve been behind the eight ball from then.
“We would hope there are no delays for those wanting to get on with their recovery over this summer period.’’
It comes after Bushfire Recovery Victoria has established 20 Community Recovery Committees to identify key town projects but progress has been slow, with many groups only finalised or incorporated recently.
“The ultimate decision on if and when to form a CRC must be made by community members themselves, and we are here to support them every step of the way with whatever model they choose,’’ a BRV spokesman said.
“All communities have different priorities and are moving at a different pace – that’s what community-led recovery is all about.”
Minister for Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said the government was supporting bushfire-affected residents with grants, faster processes and tailored advice. “We’ve invested more than $420 million to help these communities,” she said.
SPIRIT OF RESILIENCE STRONG IN BUCHAN COMMUNITY
The people of Buchan have experienced four bushfires in the past five years so the town knows a thing or two about resilience.
The community lost 26 homes and Mick Roberts, 67, lost his life fighting the flames on December 30.
A community recovery committee has been set up to try to get things done. Its chairwoman Kate Hodge said it was hoped the group could get even comparatively small things fixed, like spruce up the decrepit playground, but bureaucracy was frustrating progress.
Ms Hodge said the support and generosity of people to help in their recovery had been amazing but breaking through government red tape was making moving on hard work.
“People are very stressed. We’ve been told that every house in Buchan is a complex build.’’
“The idea was to be a ‘place-based recovery’ led by the community, not being led by bureaucrats.’’
“Anything when the bureaucracy is involved takes at least three months.
“The people on the ground have been good and true to the spirit of the narrative.’’
The town’s main tourist attraction, Buchan Caves, is still closed to tours but the easing of restrictions has allowed the the town’s only pub to re-open.
Like many rural communitites, Ms Hodge said people were missing social connections, made even more acute by the absence of the football and netball clubs this winter.
HARDSHIP IN REBUILDING
Farmer and Vietnam War veteran Jeff McCole has lived all of his 71 years at the family farm founded by his father, high on the hills east of Buchan — and he’s seen plenty of hard times.
But he’s found that trying to get his family home rebuilt has been as difficult a challenge as any.
The house in which he and wife Margie raised their family was flattened by the New Year’s inferno that swept up the valley. Mrs McColl managed to save the family photo albums, but that’s all.
The couple decamped to a rented house in Buchan for five months but returned to their property hoping to start the rebuilding process, as well as to be on hand to fix fencing to keep wild dogs away from their sheep.
A donated construction hut is now their home, a caravan their make-do bathroom and toilet.
FAMILY’S RENO-SHED MOMENT
Wairewa vegetable grower Matt Zagami knows there’s no place like home — even if it is a renovated shed.
Mr Zagami, 42, and wife Katie have decided not to rebuild for now the beloved four-bedroom family home that was incinerated last summer. Nor are they staying away.
Instead the family of six is preparing to move into a renovated shed which Mr Zagami is adding the finishing touches.
The shed survived the January inferno that destroyed their home at their vegetable farm in the community of Wairewa, a collection of houses off the Princes Highway and about half an hour out of Lakes Entrance.
The home with a deck overlooking facing the pool was a dream project which had been completed just two years earlier.
MORE NEWS
NSW RECORDS MORE CASES THAN LOCKED-DOWN VICTORIA
SAYINGS AND SLANG ONLY VICTORIANS UNDERSTAND