Two members of the community have been selected to help shape the future of disaster management in the Northern Grampians Shire.
The Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committee (MEMPC) helps to inform and maintain council's Municipal Emergency Management Plan (MEMP).
The Northern Grampians Shire MEMP includes strategies to prevent, prepare, respond to and recover from emergencies which may occur within the shire and impact on residents and infrastructure.
Our two new community representative members join representatives from community groups, council, emergency management, state government and more on the committee.
Kerry Wilson is a Stawell local who has developed strong connections to people across many different age and interest groups through her work at the Stawell Library and involvement with other community groups including Rotary, Probus, and Lions.
She has been very proactive in supporting her community in a variety of innovative ways and is excited for the opportunity to share community input and provide ideas on how to get information to people.
Marty Schoo lives and works in Halls Gap and brings a broad range of experience and community connections to this role.
Marty is a long-time Halls Gap local, co-owner of Paper Scissors Rock Brewery, and professional photographer. Marty sees his new role as a way to close the communication/education gap between the committee and the community.
Northern Grampians Shire Council Mayor, Murray Emerson, welcomed Kerry and Marty to the committee and thanked them for lending their knowledge and experience to the group.
"We believe that Kerry and Marty will bring a well-balanced community perspective to our committee and future emergency planning," he said.
"The MEMP is an important part of council's role in community safety and we are thrilled to have Marty and Kerry on board; they will bring new and refreshing ideas on how we can improve emergency management."
"I want to thank everyone who took the time to fill out an expression of interest, it was really heartening to see so many people put their hat in the ring to be a part of this committee. The selection process was really tough so thanks to everyone who volunteered"
The MEMPC will hold its first meeting for 2020 next week when the community representatives will officially be inducted and emergency management planning can begin.
