How a Batemans Bay man helped save his slice of paradise

BCA’s Biggies Awards finalist: During the bushfires, Coles regional manager John Appleby decided no threat was big enough to stop him from protecting his community.

John Appleby at Coles, Batemans Bay

The Business Council of Australia’s Biggies Awards finalist: During the bushfires, Coles regional manager John Appleby decided no threat was big enough to stop him from protecting his community.

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Standing face-to-face with the wall of flames threatening the coastal town he calls home, John Appleby decided no threat was big enough to stop him from protecting his community.

As embers fell from the sky the Coles regional manager watched his family flee the catastrophic fires that decimated much of the country’s southeastern corner in 2019-2020.

With phone lines down, electricity cut, and roads in and out blocked, he knew Coles in Batemans Bay in Coles was the only supermarket open.

“As my wife and family were flying away in a small plane, it was heartbreaking,” Appleby recalls. “I felt … an overwhelming commitment to stay behind which was fundamentally to support my team and community in need.”

Using gas generators to maintain power, the supermarket became a refuge for hundreds of locals who had evacuated homes with only the clothes they were wearing and the few things they could grab before escaping the barrage of flames.

Exhausted emergency crew members and volunteer firefighters from local brigades flocked to the store for supplies and to steal a rare moment’s rest.

“Unless you were physically there you cannot imagine it,” Appleby says. “It was horrible and even when I think about it now I get sensitive because so many people were affected.The community was so grateful. There were people stranded on beaches … and evacuation centres were overflowing. We donated to anyone who asked.”

Appleby ensured meals and essentials were given to emergency crews, nursing homes and evacuation centres, all the while supporting his team members and keeping the store operating. He also sent pallets of fruit and vegetables to Mogo Zoo to feed the animals.

“There was a real need and urgency in the community … and we went over and above,” Appleby says. “I had a team member who had lost his rental home who showed up to work with the soles of his shoes burnt wanting to help.”

He says what happened during the Black Summer bushfires will never be far from his mind, a sentiment shared by most on the south coast of NSW.

“It left a mark on us for good. There is no doubt about it. On New Year’s Eve I experienced something I had never experienced in my life,” Appleby says.

“We are a strong and committed community. There is still a lot of rebuilding to do. Everyone will have some sort of challenge or scar. But it’s paradise where we live and we want to make sure that moving forward we are prepared for the worst.”

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Q&A

John, what was the biggest challenge you faced in your community work last year?

Personally it was protecting my own family while supporting my team and the community. However, as a leader in the community it was making sure the supermarket stayed open despite having no power and only a gas generator to run essential services with a limited team as they were defending homes or seeking refuge at overflowing evacuation centres. Under that came the responsibility of organising replenishment of essential supplies such as water, ice, fresh foods, bread, milk, batteries and other basics to survive with all roads blocked and the only deliveries via police escort.

What should the government do to help overcome some of the problems you became aware of last year?

I’m sure the government is working on the learnings from the fires in 1994 and 2020, as they took a similar path, and upgrading response equipment by land and air as part of their strategic plan moving forward.

Should businesses do more and if so, what should they do?

My main suggestion would be to ensure every business has an emergency plan in place and the equipment to continue trading where possible through power failures.