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Category: Bushfire / Volunteers / Electricity Energy and Utilities

Volunteer firefighters angry over Western Power grant cut

Saturday, 30 Jul 2016 08:25:26 | Gian De Poloni

There are fears volunteer firefighters are being disadvantaged by cutbacks. (Supplied: Bunbury Volunteer Fire Brigade)

A decision by Western Power to cut an $80,000 a year grants program for volunteer firefighters has caused anger and sparked calls for the West Australian Government to intervene.

Under the scheme, initiated in 2007, volunteer brigades across the state could apply to Western Power for up to $5,000 in donations for the purchase of equipment.

In a statement confirming the scrapping of the scheme, the utility said it was consolidating its sponsorship programs.

Western Power said it would instead contribute to a grants scheme linked to the State Government-led "Are You Ready" bushfire campaign.

It is also retaining a broader $250,000 a year community grants scheme for brigades to access.

However WA Association of Volunteer Bushfire Brigades (AVBFB) president Dave Gossage said the decision had left him stunned and disappointed.

"It seems like the volunteers on the ground are yet again being disadvantaged by overall departmental cutbacks across the state," he said.

"They would be putting in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year of free labour, free resources, and to have this happen to them is a bit of a smack in the face.

"It's really disappointing given the amount of pole-top fires we go to."

MPs urged to back volunteer firefighters

Mr Gossage said the AVBFB would be writing to Premier Colin Barnett and both the Emergency Services and Energy ministers to request a review of the decision.

"I'm calling on members of parliament to give some support in getting this grant reinstated, because 100 per cent of that $80,000 went to the volunteers in the community on the ground that donate their time for free," he said.

"The volunteers have acknowledged the absolutely wonderful working relationship we have with Western Power crews on the ground. It's fantastic, and that relationship won't change.

"But what is concerning is the high-end bureaucracy seeing volunteers as an easy target to cut back on funding."

In a letter addressed to the AVBFB, Western Power said the decision was not taken lightly, and was expected to make its grants program more sustainable.

A spokesman for the utility said bushfire brigades could now potentially get more funding than before by applying for grants through the broader $250,000 scheme.

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