Eurobodalla Council ramps up lobbying to protect region from ‘avoidable’ communications losses during bushfires

No phone, no radio, no hope.

Batemans Bay lost its lifeline during the Black Summer bushfires, when an inferno destroyed power poles supplying the Mt Wandera telecommunications infrastructure.

The community was without radio, mobile phones, EFTPOS, and emergency broadcasting for six days.

It’s a scenario Eurobodalla Shire Council never wants to see repeated.

Now, the council is making a renewed push for major upgrades on Mt Wandera, to improve the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure.

It is calling on state and federal governments to commit at least $750,000 for installing 21 fire-proof power poles, and improving protections around the towers.

Council’s infrastructure services director Warren Sharpe OAM said the loss of communications in the Black Summer Bushfires placed first responders at increased risk and added to the trauma to the broader community.

In Mr Sharpe’s view, the loss of telecommunications was largely avoidable.

“The timber poles that serviced our main telecommunications tower on Mt Wandera burnt to the ground and by necessity at that time had to be replaced in timber,” Mr Sharpe said.

“We’re fighting to get the NSW and Australian Governments to fund Essential Energy to upgrade these 21 power poles with more resilient composite poles, such as those that survived the intense bushfire in the Merricumbene Valley.

“We’re also seeking a commitment to upgrade and maintain an asset protection zone around the site, improve the safety of the access and to make telecommunications infrastructure more resilient to fire.”

Eurobodalla Shire Council is ramping up its lobbying on the issue ahead of the federal election – and it has a groundswell of regional support.

Emergency services; government agencies; local chambers of commerce and community associations; Regional Development Australia, and the Canberra Region Joint Organisation of Councils have all joined Eurobodalla Shire Council in ramping up the campaign for action.

In its letter to Minister for Regional Communications, and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator Bridget McKenzie, Batemans Bay Chamber of Commerce detailed how businesses could not activate EFTPOS facilities during the disaster – at a time when residents were desperate for food and fuel.

The Chamber said a critical part of community recovery was to act on the lessons learnt.

“From the community perspective, everyone was technologically blind and deaf to fire updates, warnings and news for a period of six days,” the chamber said.

“This is not a situation that governments can allow to recur.”

Eurobodalla Shire Council has been lobbying on this particular issue since July last year.

Since then, a Council-led steering group resulted in a few wins, including an agreement for Essential Energy to fund part of the work; improvements to back-up power; some infrastructure work; and one-off asset protection by the Rural Fire Service.

But Mr Sharpe said the work needs to be finished urgently before the next fire season.

“We are really grateful that everyone is getting behind this critical change for our community,” he said.

“The actual work is straightforward and can be implemented before next fire season, if the government decides to act.

“We need this work done now, before the next summer, not in another two years.”

Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips has also been calling for infrastructure upgrades in places which were burnt and threatened by fire during Black Summer.

In addition to Mt Wandera, she identified small communities like South Durras – which have one road in and out – as key locations for building more resilient infrastructure.

Mrs Phillips said she was disappointed that there was no current federal government commitment for the ‘small price’ of $750,000 – and added projects such as Mt Wandera could potentially be funded under Labor’s proposed Disaster Ready Fund.

“The federal government should take leadership and should make a big investment in supporting fireproof power poles,” she said.

“They’ve got a $5 billion Emergency Response Fund that they haven’t spent any money from… $750,000 for 21 power poles there, it’s a small price to pay for keeping our emergency communications up and running during a bushfire.

“We [Labor] have said we’re creating a Disaster Ready Fund, which will spend up to $200 million each year, purely on disaster mitigation – we need to mitigate against natural disasters, whether that’s fireproof power poles or more drainage for flooding.”