By Mikayla van Loon
Lilydale SES will be cruising around in a new four wheel drive truck in coming months, which will be a necessary addition to the unit’s fleet after receiving a grant from the State government.
As part of the 2021-22 Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program (VESEP), a grant of $150,000 will contribute to the purchasing of an SES-specific vehicle.
Unit controller Shaun Caulfield said this contribution will need to be matched by $1 to every $2 from the State government, meaning Lilydale will have to fundraise $100,000.
“It’s a fairly long standing grant program that enables SES, CFA and Surf Lifesaving to try and fund critical asset purchases,” he said.
“So we’re looking to replace our Mercedes Sprinter, which has been decommissioned at an unfortunate time for us because we could use it right now and that’ll be replaced with a four wheel drive rescue truck.”
By adding this type of vehicle to the fleet, Mr Caulfield said it will enhance the unit’s capabilities to respond to callouts.
“It’ll enable us to have a rescue response vehicle that can go into more challenging areas and can go into the airfields, like the two airfields in Coldstream and Lilydale.”
The last time Lilydale SES had a vehicle of this kind was 10 to 12 years ago before they were cycled out of use.
“We’ve only had four wheel drive utes [since then]. So in the past, what we have had to do is take some of the rescue equipment off our other vehicles to put into the four wheel drive utes.”
Every 10 years or so, SES units have to upgrade four wheel drive vehicles to ensure the safety of the crew, which often comes down to individual units’ ability to fundraise.
“We’re always fundraising for this sort of thing. Of the five vehicles in our fleet four of them are essentially fully funded by the unit, one of them is fully funded by the service or by the government.
“So we’re in a perpetual state of fundraising. We do have some funds and we would expect to be able to purchase the vehicle when it’s available.”
Mr Caulfield said receiving the VESEP grants, which the unit has received in the past, is often one of the only ways it can purchase new vehicles as frequently as needed.
“It’s probably the main way that we get large chunks of funding to purchase our vehicles. There’s a lot of SES units that would struggle to find a quarter of a million dollars for the truck on their own without some sort of supplemental funding.”
Before VESEP was established Mr Caulfield said it wouldn’t be uncommon for SES units to be driving around in 20 to 25 year old vehicles.
“They’re not the safest for us to operate out of because they’re not designed as ergonomically as current practices are and there’s just maintenance issues that go along with older vehicles.
“So it’s good to have the most modern fleet that provides the best capability for us to respond, whether that be the vehicle or the equipment that’s on it.
“We’ve got fabulous training for our members but we need to make sure that we’ve also got the best equipment and vehicles to go along with it. So this goes a long way towards doing that.”
Because the new truck will be an eight tonne heavy vehicle rather than a four tonne ute, Mr Caulfield said Lilydale’s members will need to undergo some training to manoeuvre some harder to reach places in the area.
Mr Caulfield hopes to have the vehicle within 10 months, giving the unit enough time to fundraise for the remaining sum.
To help support Lilydale SES, go to www.lilydalesesrescue.com.au/donate/
