Architectural rendering of the new Cooma Fire Control Centre. Image courtesy of NSW RFS.
The Snowy Monaro is on-track for improved emergency response and management from mid-next year, with construction work officially underway on the NSW Rural Fire Service's (RFS) new Monaro Fire Control Centre in Cooma's Polo Flat precinct.
Due for completion in June 2026, the new centre will include an interagency emergency operations hub housing improved and expanded facilities for personnel, aerial equipment, training, storage, emergency communications and more.
On the back of an $8.5 million grant from the NSW Government in 2022, initial planning and investigations for the RFS-managed project began in July 2022 in collaboration with Snowy Hydro and Snowy Monaro Regional Council.
The centre is being built to the latest design standards, providing our first responders and the communities they protect with the innovative, modern facilities and infrastructure needed to keep the Snowy Monaro safe when disaster strikes.
Following the conclusion of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry conducted in the wake of the 2019/2020 bushfires, the NSW Government allocated the significant funding required for the new centre to the RFS.
Preparations for the project were completed in April 2025, and construction is now underway ahead of the project's estimated completion date in June 2026.
Cleared and levelled land at the Cooma Fire Control Centre site. Image courtesy of NSW RFS.
Council and Snowy Hydro were immediately supportive of the project and worked together with the RFS to identify and make available a suitable site for the facility in Cooma's Polo Flat industrial precinct.
The RFS has provided a further $6.5 million from its primary funding source, the NSW Rural Fire Fighting Fund, to ensure the Monaro Fire Control Centre can be built to the latest and highest standards for facilities of this kind.
Funding for this significant investment in the Snowy Monaro's emergency response capability is thanks to the NSW Government, Snowy Hydro, and Snowy Monaro Regional Council.
Council contributed funding to reroute utilities and services as-required and for the implementation of a new access road for the facility.
