By Parker McKenzie
With lots of left over timber collected after the June storms, people in the Yarra Ranges will be able to put the natural resource to good use.
A joint project between Rural Aid, Bushfire Recovery Victoria and Yarra Ranges Council will see the large amounts of fallen timber recycled and turned into free fence posts for businesses and farms.
“Rather than having that resource destroyed, cleaned up and burnt, pulped or disposed of, we’re able to capture that resource by collectively working together to have it milled and turned into fence posts,” Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said.
While the program is still in the early stages, Mr Warlters said the program was a “virtuous circle”.
“We’re collectively working together to gather up that timber that’s become available and then have that that timber milled to turn it into fence posts that will be collected and then distributed back to eligible farmers,” he said.
Six local councils – including Yarra Ranges – have been bought on board to aid and develop the initiative.
Mr Warlters said by working with like-minded organisations, Rural Aid can achieve greater results.
“If it was just simply Rural Aid, or Bushfire Recovery Victoria or even just one of these six councils seeking to do this, then that the impact can still be significant,” he said.
“It can be magnified a whole lot more when you get other parties involved.”
Mr Warlters said often a natural disaster – like the June storm – can capture headlines, but the rebuilding takes time.
“People want to help where they can, but very quickly we then move on and we forget about it, it’s just human nature,” he said.
“We don’t realise that the person who’s been impacted still has this recovery period ahead of them that takes months.
“We don’t then get to appreciate the frustration that an individual or a group of people that have been impacted might be experiencing.”
