When Cann River residents gathered last Thursday to discuss their situation as a town isolated by the affects of bushfire, they were not happy.
Cann River had been isolated since late December when bushfires ravaged its surrounds. The town’s perimeter has been burnt. It did not take long for its residents to feel forgotten as they watched efforts being made to get people evacuated from Mallacoota and much needed supplies sent to the popular coastal town. They have watched as Chinooks bypass them overhead with supplies bound for Mallacoota.
As did many communities in the state’s far east, they spent a time without power. Supplies were low, and those needing cigarettes were getting the jitters. The river that the town relies on is low thanks to the drought and now firefighting use.
Last Thursday’s meeting, which was to have taken place with the Incident Controller (ICC) from Orbost, had been cancelled – they couldn’t get in and their helicopter was turned around. But the townspeople wanted answers and the officers who took the floor to try to answer them were only given 20 minutes’ notice to do so.
The officers who stood at the front of the meeting are not from these parts. They mispronounced place names, but the audience did not hold that against them. In fact they gave the pair a round of applause for the guts that it took for them to address an obviously unhappy crowd about a situation they knew they did not fully understand themselves. Their time was appreciated. What was not appreciated was that the ICC did not come to provide the answers they so desperately sought.
The continued closure of the Princes Highway between Orbost and Genoa is frustrating the communities that rely on it for connectivity.
One of the vocal participants of last Thursday’s meeting was dairy farmer, Ross Walker, who has lived in the area all his life and seen many fires. The ICC attended a meeting on Saturday, and more information is now getting through, but Mr Walker, along with the rest of the town, continues to be frustrated.
Mr Walker has seen more than 100,000 litres of his milk tipped down the drain. He said it was extremely upsetting for his share farmer. His milk goes to Saputo, in Maffra, who he says has been “excellent” and very understanding of his situation. He is able to store two days of milk most of the year and was expecting to be able to have his milk collected every second day starting this week.
He said other farmers have had issues with getting feed to their stock, which are rapidly losing condition.
He understands that the highway needs to be made safe.
“We don’t need rubber-neckers and tourists out there, but trees fall down all the time and we don’t get why locals can’t be allowed the opportunity to get to their properties, get feed to their cattle,” Mr Walker said.
“It’s all getting bogged down in red tape. Now the threat of the fire has gone, they’re really going by the rulebook.
“They had planned to clear the main arterial roads of roadside vegetation a number of years ago, but that never happened. Now we’re stuck.”
Aside from the frustrations felt, Mr Walker praises those who saved their town.
“The local DELWP (Department of Environment, land, Water and Planning), headed up by James Pardew, local earth moving contractor, Gus McKinnon and his crew, and the four or five CFA trucks from down the line did a fantastic job protecting our town from the fire and then getting the roads, local and highway, open,” he said.
