Council approved the final Municipal Recovery Plan at last night's meeting as staff from the Recovery Directorate moved back into Council's standard business structure.
The Recovery Directorate was specifically set-up to assist with the impacts of the June 2021 storm supporting the people and local communities as well as assisting with the physical damage.
The experience from the 2009 bushfires, as detailed in the '10 Years Beyond Bushfires Report', is that a proportion of the community most impacted by the disaster were still recovering up to 10 years after the event occurred.
As such, it is acknowledged by Yarra Ranges Council that we are moving into a new phase in recovery that is more focussed on resilience for most. Much of the immediate response can wind back without negatively impacting residents, but some ongoing support will be sought in response to the June 2021 storm event over the medium to longer term.
Yarra Ranges Mayor Councillor Jim Child said, "While the Directorate itself may be finishing, work to support our storm-impacted residents continues.
"Planning staff will still be dedicated to managing and assisting those residents who lost their homes and our community development staff will still be working with residents to support their ongoing community resilience as well as connecting them and providing advice on mental health services that are available.
"Our Regional Community Recovery Committees will continue to work closely with local community groups focussing on building strong connected communities and mental health issues and other issues specific to their region."
"We are aware that there are still some residents managing complex issues within in Hills area and we will continue to advocate on their behalf to the State Govt and other agencies for continued support," said Cr Child.
Some of the issues facing those residents that were impacted the hardest following the June 2021 storm includes:
Insurance – support following the storm, increased premiums or refusal for insurance
Ongoing mental health – with 15% of the community reporting significant impactes on mental health and 23% reporting trauma/anxiety
Access to services – 40% of the storm-impacted community has reported delays in accessing health services (compared to 24% of the rest of the Yarra Ranges community)
Temporary housing – Insurance-funded temporary rentals which expired in Jun 2022
Housing costs - Housing and rental affordability getting worse due to interest rate rises being passed onto home loans and renters
In a bid to address these issues, Council has undertaken key recovery activities over the past 18 months including:
Pop-up Recovery Hubs have taken place across the Hills area with a range of recovery partners and an Outreach Program to enable residents to connect with services
A range of recovery activities have been delivered for families with young children, mental health first aid
Healing In Our Gardens recovery program has now been launched
Grants for community programs to mark 12 months on from the June 2021 storm
Yarra Ranges JobLink – an online employment portal that connects jobseekers with employers in the Yarra Ranges.
Hospitality training through a partnership with educators including CIRE and the Box Hill Institute.
Buy/Enjoy/Employ Local – a marketing campaign developed to encourage the community to support local business
Reimagining your rebuild - a series of workshops that provides expert planning and building guidance to residents whose homes were damaged by the storm.
Outreach to all 183 private property owners with storm damaged structures, and monitoring progress of application from these owners, with the team waiting on 51 potential planning applications.
Two kerbside special storm branch collections which picked up over 45000 cubic meters of branch debris from across the municipality including the Urban, Valley, and Hills regions.
The private property clean-up program for community members who are financially or physically unable to clean up the extensive volume of storm related green waste on their properties. This work is supported by Council and is undertaken by not-for-profit organisations Habitat for Humanity and Treasuring our Trees.
Processing the timber debris collected by Council through the storm clean-up and returning it to the public as a resource; providing logs to community groups, returning over 50 hollow bearing logs to and bushland for habitat, milling logs into planting stakes and fencing materials, and 8,000 cubic meters of mulch going to the community and Council parks, with 2,000 cubic meters of firewood to community.
Works to repair 35 Council facilities, including the extensive works needed at the Monbulk Aquatic Centre, which re –opened in September 2022 and the relocation of the Mount Dandenong Preschool.
Extensive works to restore major and minor Council roads, drainage systems, bridges, and tunnels as well as reinstatement of pavement surfaces.
Cr Child concluded, "Council has undertaken a great deal of work over the past 18 months which will have reached those impacted by the storm, however medium to longer term recovery activities that target those most impacted by the June storm will continue.
"So, while staff from Council's Recovery Directorate are being absorbed back into the organisation, support for our community will continue."
