I love it when a plan comes together

When the Premier came to Flowerdale on 4th March the most important thing he said as far as the community was concerned was "this is a community government partnership". It was also at that time that Christine Nixon had visited the town in her new role as head of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority. On that day we handed over our plans for the temporary village.

The execution of the temporary village plan has been happening fast and the good news is that the government and VBRRA are delivering. The next eight flat pack semi permanent units are coming next week. Power will be on by next Friday and the design for a communal kitchen has been accepted and will get going soon. As I mentioned previously the road and lighting are in train.

It has been a smooth process and the speed with which things are moving gives us great confidence in the VBRRA. They have also helped us navigate other departments, for example they have been able to fast track our fundraising permit through Consumer Affairs.

While Flowerdale has been called the DIY town for our approach of getting on with things ourselves, the key thing we did was to get our plans in place and work with a wide range of people and organisations from the corporate, philanthropic and govermnent sectors.

It bodes well for the future as we start to think about the rebuilding phase. A key focus will need to be on sustaining Flowerdale's community spirit and ethos, while providing a sustainable future in terms of the environment, infrastructure and economy.

The Royal Commission was in town yesterday in a closed session. It is the start of what will be a long process to ensure that the events of Black Saturday are not seen again. If you couldn't get there and have ideas for prevention we have set up a website at firevoice.uservoice.com which is collecting ideas for presentation to the Royal Commission. You can add you ideas or simply vote or comment on the ideas that are there.

Although I wasn't in town on Black Saturday I have put in a number of ideas around communication. I know I was trying to get information on what was happening and there were major issues around the timeliness of information on 774, lack of detail coming out of the CFA and the DSE website wasn't working. I was trying to get updates on Flowerdale during the day but there was nothing coming through. We would really appreciate your input and ask that you spread the word.

Slash helps out and so do many others

Great story in the Herald Sun today about local resident Gavin Duggin being sent a guitar by Slash from Guns'n'Roses. It is amazing to see the way that the stories of bushfire affected people touch the hearts of so many.



The guy handing over the guitar is Wes Carr from Australian Idol, must admit i have lost track of Idol people since Guy Sebastian, but good on you Wes for doing it. At least you look like a rock star.

We also got contacted today by Neville and Leslie Woollard, a couple who are passionate metal detectors, with all the latest high tech equipment. They have offered to use their detectors to recover any jewellery, coins, medals or other metal items that may have survived the fires. if you are interested in taking up the offer let John Burgess know, he has their contact details. Alternatively ping me an email and I can arrange with John, pewilliams@deloitte.com.au.

The Beaconsfield Kindergarten donated some money to the kindergarten and Trudy Fraser who is involved with a Kindergarten for deaf children has also donated some books. All of these fantastic offers of cash and assistance are coming through the donations site www.flowerdalerelief.com. The site was built by some of the graduates from Eclipse, the web company I used to run. It was done in a hurry but is working. We also will have our fundraising permit sorted by tomorrow, thanks to Emma at VBRRA and Consumer Affairs Victoria for helping us get this through so fast. We will then be able to officially take donations.

I also ran into a couple of guys who do tree lopping from Perth. They were in town for a few days and made some friends. They are coming back on 30th March to do quotes and will start work on 3rd April, they are also looking for help from local contractors. Their email address is elementstreesolutions@yahoo.com.au if you want to contact them either for tree lopping or to pick up some work.

CPR for Dummies and Chris Martin says hello

I was wondering what to write today so I jumped on to the photo stream from the village on Flickr and was totally confused by what I saw.



Then I realised it was the guys doing their CPR first aid training. I was the dummy in this case. This has been organised by Billy Price and the CFMEU, great to see community members taking initiative, using their networks and helping lots of other community members in the process



Now we haven't been known for complaining since the fires, more just getting on with it, despite the hardships; but I had heard around the rec reserve that people were getting a little over sausages. Not that the Hales Institute team weren't doing their best to be a creative and I was a fan of the curried sausages but there hadn't been a lot else on the menu.



The problem was we had a lack of access to a meat supply. The great news is that we now have an account at the Yea Butcher and the menu diversity will be back to what it was.

A mate of mine was at the Coldplay concert in Sydney and let me know that Chris Martin, recent visitor and friend of Flowerdale, had arranged for a few Flowerdallians to get to the concert and said hello to them from the stage. What a top guy, his visit up here was a great thrill to many and Viv from the pub is still talking about it.

The portable chalets, or in local lingo, the dongas, have been wired up and are ready to go.

We are looking at getting in a road around the site so everything will be accessible if it gets wet. It wasn't really bad this week but you could see that it could get bad pretty quickly if there was some heavy rain.

Moving in and some useful links

The first two semi permanent units were occupied today which is a great milestone. The wet weather has made things a bit muddy but not too bad. We will need to get things done before winter arrives and we are working on it.

The Victorian Bushfire Recovery and Reconstruction Authority has launched a web site at www.wewillrebuild.vic.gov.au. Not much there yet but should be a key source of information on the activities of the VBRRA as things unfold.

There are a couple of Kinglake Ranges websites www.kando.org.au, and the Kinglake Region Business Network, www.krbn.com.au, which has lots of information for business owners in the region.

I have been asked about local contractors getting involved in the cleanup, Grocon are coordinating the work and have an email address firecleanup@grocon.com.au hazardous goods need to be cleared by A and B class removalists. So email them and someone tell Stylesy because I cant find his number.

This morning the Herald Sun published a story on Warnie and Chris Martin's secret visit to Flowerdale, well you heard it first on the Flowerdale Blog 10 days ago, (bloggers just love it when they beat the traditional media to the story)

You are welcome as we look to the future

It is great to see the number of visitors to Flowerdale dropping by the Pub and Shop and giving the community moral support. The main thing people say is that they feel like they are intruding; rest assured we welcome you to come to town. I handed out a heap of car stickers for our relief fund www.flowerdalerelief.com so the visitors can make a contribution by maintaining a level of awareness of what is happening here.

We were pleased to see our friends in Marysville moving along the temporary village path to keep the community together and get momentum for rebuilding.

Today a few of us are getting to look to the future and identify what projects we want for the longer term. In addition we are completing the Fundraising Permit paperwork and should be able to take cash donations rather than pledges next week.

The residents who went to Sound Relief got home about 1.30am this morning, soggy but inspired with the support from the Australian Music Industry and the Australian people.

The key message from yesterday was that if we stick together with our unique Aussie sense of mateship and community we can together overcome any adversity. I think it also reinforces that the best way to achieve happiness is through what you can do for others. I have had a lot of expats from other countries in the last month say to me that there is something special in the Aussie spirit and ability to band together, that they didn't see in their home countries. I think we often don't see it because it has always been there in us.

The other message was that no matter how tough it gets things come back around. The grass, creek, trees and wildlife in Flowerdale are showing us how and that belief in a better future keeps us driving forward.



I spent an hour last weekend watching a pair of magnificent Wedge Tailed eagles rebuilding a nest in a burnt out tree in a burnt out forest. Maybe it wasn't the ideal living scenario but they were home, they were staying and getting on with it. The joy they gave us as they soared majestically overhead gave us a renewed sense of purpose. Hopefully you can find some of that in your life everyday, no matter how tough the future challenges may appear. Don't be scared to ask for help, your fellow Aussies will step in for you.

Roads are open, Grass is greener

Drove up today and the roadblocks that had seemed like a permanent presence have gone. Anyone wanting to visit can drive up to Whittlesea and drive along the Whittlesea-Yea Rd and get into Flowerdale. Personally, I think that it is worth taking the drive just to get an understanding of the scale of the disaster. Make sure you drop into the shop and pub if you go through, they need the business!

Lots of the survivors went to the Sound Relief concert not sure where the tickets came from but thanks to whoever gave them to us. Pity about the weather, but I am sure the support and goodwill from a full MCG crowd will give them all a boost. Great to see the Oils, Hunners and Enz back together for this event.

With some rain on the hill the grass that was once black is now reshooting and a tinge of green is is coming through. There were even a few of the gum trees starting to show signs of new growth. The King Parrot Creek was getting some reasonable flow which also must be good.

We had a good community meeting last night and the mood of the Community remains good. It is the sense of community that has helped get us to where we are now and will sustain us into the future. Of course there will be frustrations but I think Flowerdale has shown that it can jump any hurdles put in its way.

The rec reserve continues to move and we took up some more laptops and xboxs today (thanks Steve), we are trying to grab another portable site office to set up an internet cafe and games area. That is tomorrow's job.

We are starting to put together some ideas for longer term projects that will provide additional amenities and infrastructure for the future. If anyone has ideas please leave a comment.

40 locals get "Red Cards" and in search of TShirt Designers

The CFMEU were on site yesterday and trained 20 locals so they can receive their "Red Card", effectively a ticket to enable them to work on building sites and another 20 will be trained today. Next week we will train them on asbestos safety. This will allow locals to be actively involved in the clearing and rebuilding phases. Feels good to be thinking about the next stage and helping locals get employment.

The DHS is now organised for housing allocation and more of the semi permanent 2 bedroom units will be constructed. we are working with DHS and the Salvation Army to furnish the units and that process is running pretty smoothly.

We also are running a tshirt design competition so we can get some cash into our Flowerdale Relief Fund. If you are a designer or know one tell them to go to http://www.australianedge.net/ and submit a design. Might be good for a school as well.




The village keeps rolling along, we have put down synthetic grass around the portable chalets in readiness for the rain that has now decided to fall after a three month holiday.

Bushfire Funds to go to victims

Here is an extract from a press release from the Premier's office this morning

"More than $130 million in donations to the Bushfire Appeal Fund will be distributed to people whose houses were destroyed or partially destroyed by this year’s devastating bushfires, the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund Advisory Panel Chair John Landy and the Premier John Brumby announced today. Mr Landy said all homeowners whose principal place of residence was destroyed by the bushfires would receive a Rebuilding and Recovery Grant of $50,000. This consists of $35,000 for rebuilding and $15,000 to replace contents.

Tenants whose principal place of residence was destroyed by the bushfires will receive a $15,000 payment for contents lost or damaged.

Mr Landy said people whose homes were partially destroyed by the bushfires and who will need to relocate during rebuilding will receive a payment of $15,000 for costs associated with repairs and rebuilding."

The full press release is at http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/premier/bushfire-appeal-funds-to-help-communities-rebuild.html

Rebuilding your photo collection - Help Available

Many people who lost their homes on Black Saturday also lost their photo collections. Simon Gilligan, from Applebox, the world's most innovative video store, put me in contact with a friend of his who will help families reconstruct their photo memories.

http://noelb.com/photohelp.htm :
If you have lost your family photos because of the bushfires but are able to source prints from family or friends we would be glad to copy them digitally and provide images on CD. Due to some very generous donations we hope we will also be able to provide a number of archival quality prints. If any damaged photos are able to be salvaged from burnt out homes we will endeavour to restore them.
Looking to the future, if people are interested, we would like to photograph families who have lost their homes and provide them with prints to re-start their family photo collections. We plan to do this at no cost to those bushfire victims who would like our help.

A great offer and hopefully we can help families reconstruct those memories.

The double dongas hit the village

Well the Village keeps on growing and the first of the two bedroom Portable Chalets (formerly known as Dongas) hit town yesterday. Those guys from Fortescue are unbelievable.

They will be great for a small family and they look really good.



We are getting power into the village via SP Ausnet which will give us the capacity to house a lot more people. Electricians are putting all the wiring in place and we will be ready to go very soon.



If you are a resident of Flowerdale and are thinking of coming back talk to your DHS case manager and let them know you are interested or drop me a line pewilliams@deloitte.com.au and I can give you some background information.

Our donations site is going well, we have got our second car, which will be useful for a family that has lost their means of transport. www.flowerdalerelief.com

I am working with InfoXchange to get computers to people who lost their own computer in the fires. Slight problem is that across the state there have been 560 requests and to date we have got 120 computers from organisations like NAB, Telstra, Deloitte and some personal ones that have been donated. If you have more computers than you know what to do with and want to free up some space let me know and we can get them out into the field.

The Community meeting this week has been moved to Friday night at 8.00pm at the Recreation Reserve.

By the way if you want to come up and have a look you can get into town by taking the Hume Highway to the Broadford/Flowerdale exit and turn right into the Strath Creek Rd. There are no road blocks and Steve and Viv at the pub do the best Chicken Parma going around so drop in, you will be amazed to experience the community spirit in a time of tragedy. Much better vibe than the doom and gloom of the financial crisis.

Flowerdale and the Premier - Partnering to rebuild

Well what a morning. John Brumby, Bill Shorten, Christine Nixon, Major General John Cantwell, Richard Wynn and a range of other senior officials came into Flowerdale this morning with a big media scrum in tow.

All were amazed at how fast the temporary village is moving and Premier Brumby said that the Flowerdale Community and Government would continue to work in partnership to construct the temporary village to house homeless residents.




John Burgess the community leader handed over the plans developed by the community for the temporary village wrapped up with a big Tonka Fire Truck. John said the Flowerdale community had developed the plans and saw it as a model that could be used by other communities impacted by the fires as well as how communities affected by disasters in the future could fast track the disaster management process through community led partnerships with government.



Beyond that we would look to start the longer term rebuilding process. The State Government has contracted McKern Housing to build the first 20 semi permanent housing units.

A big thank you to everyone who came up today government, media and community members. In the words of John Burgess "All lights are now green"...go Flowerdale.

Dongas in the Village

After a long journey from Perth the first of the Dongas (miners accommodation) arrived in the Flowerdale Village. They have been provided by Fortescue Metals and are in great nick. Each unit has a bedroom, bathroom, bench and desk and there are four in each of the dongas. They have electricity, plumbing, TV antenna and will be a great boost to the Village and local residents left homeless after Black Saturday.

Flowerdale gets Rockin'

Sitting in the pub listening to the music, while working hard on pulling together the plans for the Village. We got the firebreak in place yesterday, great effort from Ian Kennedy and Rob Dumsday, we talked about it on Thursday and it was done by Friday.

On a less happy note the Police and Army Forensic teams are working through the areas of the town that were destroyed on Black Saturday. A tough job but they are putting in a big effort and have a very large team. It is part of the process and until they finish the clearing process can't begin.

The roadblock at the Community Hall has been moved back towards Whittlesea so at least people can access the Pub without going into the destruction zone.

Expecting a heap of stuff to land in the Village tomorrow and today cranes are putting the 27,000 lt. water tanks in place.

Cool new quiet generator has landed and will be sufficient to provide power for the time being.

Expecting huts to land tomorrow.

If anyone has access to large marquees (10m X 21m with floors) let me know because we have one that is being hired but it is not a sustainable long term solution.

Keep rocking...Flowerdale Rocks....blues music, pub is going off

23rd February is a big day for Flowerdale

You may have seen in the news how Flowerdale has taken direct action to get residents accommodation and is setting up a temporary village on the recreation reserve.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/754967/flowerdale-starts-diy-rebuilding-process



The two vans in shot were donated by the Portland House Foundation, and they also donated a couple of others to people in town. The village is growing quickly and is known as Crashtown, not only because it will be a place to crash, but the guy running it on the ground is known as Crash.

I took in laptops and a printer, donated by Deloitte, on the weekend and Telstra is setting up an antenna on Monday. We expect to have a little internet cafe set up so residents can finally access information.



The State Government will tomorrow inform the town committee formed in the aftermath of the bushfires what support it will give. The speed with which things are moving really requires that significant funding (we are talking more than $1m but less than $5m in my humble guesstimation) is given to provide the necessary infrastructure such as toilets, cooking facilities, water etc without too much red tape and bureaucracy.

Another key factor will be to let the community set the tone for how it will work. Flowerdillians don't want it to be like an "indian reservation" more as a facility for those who have lost homes and want to stay in the community.

Update - 21 Feb - Action Stations

Came into Flowerdale today and things are on the move. Portland House rolled in with the first four caravans to the mini village starting to establish itself on the rec reserve. We have the lap tops on the ground and Telstra will set up an antenna with access on Monday.

About six families have been established and more activity is happening around the newly delivered caravans.

Still need some cash to get kindergarten staff up and running, they only did 16 hours historically but we really need to run 5 days a week. My parents and my wife and I have put in the first $1000 but we need more. Will post details of where to put in direct deposits and cut out the middle man (ie me). Spirits are high things are happening. Watch this space and i will try to find out more info on what help they need

Flowerdale in the news

Well little flowerdale is really getting attention, it has been in the news all over the world and the latest vid from Fairfax has my niece in it. She is wearing the pink stripey pyjamas and has plaits, http://media.theage.com.au/?category=Breaking%20News&rid=46321

Cash for Kindergarten

Just spoke to the locals, they want to reopen the kindergarten and need some cash to do so. They need about $5,000 to get going any ideas let me know. pewilliams@deloitte.com.au or 0433141943

Help with Horses

Anyone in Flowerdale who needs help with horses:

For Flowerdale and surrounds - Drop/Collection point:

Three Sisters Farm, Road side number 2724, Broadford/ Flowerdale Road, Flowerdale, (between Seymour amd Yea). Person supervising the distribution is Allan Schulz 57802300 or 0417 591 302.

If there are any specific needs, please advise Allan or TREW, and we will do our best to provide whatever it is on one of our deliveries.

Thanks to my sister and the Victorian Horse forum for helping out

On the Ground update

The ADF are on the ground helping with meals but the word is they are moving out tomorrow so the Flowerdallians will have to fend for themselves again. Not sure what the ADF strategy is they pulled out last Thursday then came back on Tuesday and are pulling out again.

There are quite a few kids there and the normal swimming holes in the King Parrot Creek have been contaminated so a couple of blow up splash pools might be useful but there is not much water, sure we can work that out.

The other thing that would be really useful would be child minding or a temporary creche. The parents are trying to get things together but have kids in tow, and anyone who has had kids knows how hard it is to get things done when kids are bored and hanging around.

Accommodation is a problem and hopefully we can get some caravans in soon.

Got the laptops today (thanks to the Deloitte IT people for sorting this out) and Telstra are helping me with Next G cards. Telstra have really stood up in terms of getting comms up and helping the victims.

I bought a printer/fax/copier to take up on the weekend which will be useful.

The residents of Flowerdale Rd, Glen Iris have adopted their namesake town, thanks Diana. If anyone wants to contact me re help call me on 0433141943 or email pewilliams@deloitte.com.au , i am also regularly updating on twitter my name on there is rexster

Crime Scene or Disaster Zone - a reflection

I have posted a number of times regarding the difficulty residents have had getting in and out of fire affected areas, even residents who have never effectively "left" their communities have experienced difficulties at roadblocks. There have also been problems whereby Vicroads publishes that a road is open to residents yet the police on the ground are not letting residents, with ID, through.

In my interactions with a number of different police officers most, but not all, refer to the fire affected areas as a "crime scene". If you think of a crime scene the objectives are to get people out, seal it off and carry out a detailed investigation. Applying a crime scene perspective at a roadblock results in "it doesn't matter who you are or what you are doing, you can't come in". As the fire affected area is spread over hundreds of thousands of hectares and many residents never left the area other than to access relief and return, a crime scene approach was always going to create point of conflict.

In a disaster zone the objectives are to make it safe, get the help and relief we need and remove any barriers or hindrances. Many residents in fire affected areas got very frustrated when they came up against the "crime scene" perspective when trying to get to relief centres and then return to their communities.

It does seem that the responsibility for roadblocks is now with Vicroads, which would indicate that the police have largely finished their work of victim location and identification as well as the investigative side of their work (those victim ID police have such a terrible job but do it very well). Hopefully there will be less conflict and stress and we can focus on the disaster zone perspective.