The massive, state-wide clean-up effort following the devastating 2019-20 Victorian bushfires has finished on schedule, with 736 properties across East Gippsland and North East Victoria cleared of destroyed and damaged buildings free of charge.
Commonwealth Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud and Victorian Minister for Police and Emergency Services Lisa Neville said the milestone was significant for bushfire-affected communities, helping them move to the next stages in their long-term recovery.
“Clean-up is one of the most challenging aspects of bushfire recovery, with all the hazards associated with asbestos and demolition work and all the trauma that comes with revisiting burnt-out properties”, Minister Littleproud said.
“We’re proud to have worked in close collaboration with Victoria to get this job done and clean up bushfire-affected property owners free-of-charge, so they can take the next steps towards their future plans.”
Minister Neville said this clean-up was different from previous bushfire events in Victoria, with far greater numbers of rural and isolated properties containing multiple destroyed and damaged structures – all of them classified as asbestos contaminated.
“This was a complex job spread over more than 700 individual sites. We said we’d finish up by the end of August and the crews of hardworking locals and experts did such a great job to get us there.”
In total, the 2020 Clean-up Program demolished, cleared and disposed of more than 2,500 individual structures on 547 properties in East Gippsland Shire, 183 properties in Towong Shire and 5 properties in Alpine Shire. In total, 75,000 tonnes of bushfire waste was cleared – the equivalent of over 20,000 Toyota Landcruisers.
Properties in East Gippsland produced an average of almost nine truckloads of asbestos-contaminated bushfire waste, and tip trucks travelled over 1.2 million kilometres to and from waste facilities to dispose of it safely and securely. All stored waste is tracked and will be monitored for a significant period of time.
Grocon and subcontractor crews worked 370,000 hours on clean-up. At their peak, these crews – more than half of which were locals hailing from bushfire-affected postcodes – were able to clear up to 60 properties every week.
“We’re really grateful for the hard work of all the crews on the job, and we’re proud to have worked hand in hand with groups representing workers and employees through the Industry and Worker Advisory Group”, Minister Neville said.
“On top of clean-up, we have also co-funded over $25 million in grants for directly-affected primary producers, offering up to $75,000 to help producers rebuild and re-establish their farm businesses”, Minister Littleproud said.
The Commonwealth and Victoria are working closely on the state’s long-term bushfire recovery, providing millions in funding for grants, modular housing, tailored personal, financial and planning support, and major projects to help communities build back bigger, better and safer.
The 2020 Clean-up Program was joint funded by the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments. For more information on joint-funded grants, services and advice that are available for bushfire-affected Victorians, visit www.brv.vic.gov.au or www.bushfirerecovery.gov.au
Source: Australian Government