Make yourself heard

By Monique Ebrington
UPPER Yarra residents will get to voice their thoughts on the February bushfires despite being overlooked by the Royal Commission.
Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato is organising an unofficial community forum for April.
Although the Royal Commission will not visit Upper Yarra, Ms Lobato said it was important that the region had its own community meeting to talk about the fires.
She said the forum would allow residents to share their thoughts, experiences and ideas for what should be done differently in the future.
“The threat of continuing bushfires is very real. We live in one of the highest prone areas to bushfires,” Ms Lobato said.
“We learnt a lot from this. We’ve learnt how important preparedness and prevention is now because of that experience.”
Ms Lobato intends to submit conclusions from the meeting to the Royal Commission.
She said the forum would be set up as a workshop covering general topics and issues specific to the Upper Yarra such as transport out of the area, information and communication.
“One of the main problems during the bushfires, was that people didn’t think they were getting enough information on the ground,” she said.
“They wanted to know where the fire actually is, what mountain is it over and were they over-reacting.”
All aspects of the fires, from before the fire period, during and after, will be covered to better prepare the Upper Yarra for next summer.
“The education of the people is vitally important. I think people have really learnt a lot from the recent fires,” Ms Lobato said.
“Things like going along to CFA prevention meetings are a great way for people to prepare for the next fire period so they can truly decide whether they want to stay or leave and leave early.”
The Royal Commission is holding meetings in Kinglake West today (Tuesday) and Yarra Glen next week.
The Warburton forum is scheduled for Monday 27 April at 7pm in the Mechanics Institute Hall.