Moe South
What is CBBM?
Community Based Bushfire Management (CBBM) is one of the projects under the State-wide, Victorian Government funded Safer Together project. It adopts a community development approach in reducing bushfire risk through using community knowledge, values, skills, resources and strengths. It promotes the community being at the centre of decision making and working in equal partnership with different agencies as together we aim towards safer and more resilient communities.
As an area with extreme bushfire risk, Moe South was first engaged in the CBBM program in April 2019. Since then, a range of discussions, events and projects have supported the Moe South community in enhancing resilience to bushfires and other emergencies.
Some activities have included:
- Community meetings at the Moe South Fire Station with special guests to share about community emergency management, the Latrobe Valley Information Network, and the work that HVP does to reduce fire risk to the plantations and surrounding communities
- Working with Edward Hunter Reserve to prepare for planned burns and ensure fire truck access
- Supported Baringa Special School in their emergency planning
- Online community meeting in response to a survey sent to Moe South residents and businesses – 6th October 2020
- “Preparing your Property 101” Online Workshop – 19th October 2020
- Cup Weekend community clean-up/working bee, 2020, 2021, 2022 (see photos and articles below)
- Ladies Morning Tea with special guest speaker Amanda Lamont – 12th December 2020 (see video below).
- Working with property owners and vegetation managers to discuss cool burns, Joint Fuel Management Plan nominations
- Neighbour Day x CBBM BBQ – 27th March 2021 and 26th March 2022 (see articles below)
- Beyond the Burning Film Screening – 5th June 2021 (see article below)
- Moe South ABC: Addressing Bushfire and Climate Change (see video below)
Upcoming events and initiatives
Newsletter
The March 2023 edition of the Resilience in Action newsletter focuses on the Resilient Australia Award, the upcoming Neighbour Day BBQ, and a ‘people in focus’ interview with the Moe South CFA brigade Captain, Stephen Bates.
Newsletter December 2022
Newsletter October 2022-edition
Newsletter August 2022-edition
Newsletter December 2021-edition
Newsletter October 2021-edition
Newsletter August 2021-edition
Get in touch
If you’d like further information on Moe South CBBM events or projects, or if you have any questions or ideas for community initiatives, please get in touch with Moe South’s CBBM Facilitator Rebekah Baynard-Smith at: rebekah.baynard-smith@latrobe.vic.gov.au or 0427 368 657.
Resources
Resources to help you prepare for the bushfire season and to support your community:
- 1030-1050 Rule
- Fire ready kit
- Defending your property
- Leaving early
- Retrofit your Home guide – Victorian Building Authority
- Am I Prepared? presentation
- Retrofit your home for better protection – CFA
- Clearing vegetation to help protect your home from bushfire
- Property fire management planning guide – Fire-scape
- Fire Safety Outreach Program Gippsland – CFA
- Landscaping for bushfire
- Pets and bushfires
- “Preparing your property 101” workshop presentation
- Property assessment checklist
- Rural garden: Landscaping for bushfire
- Local slashing contractors
- Bushfire Insurance Tips – Disaster Legal Help
Clean Up Week 2022 (& Noticeboard launch)
For the third year running, the Moe South community rallied together to start working on their properties ahead of bushfire season. On Saturday 29th October residents came together at the fire station for a classic Lions BBQ, a time to meet others in the community, seek and offer assistance, and pick up some educational resources to help guide their property works. This year we had the added bonus of some TM&H (Mitre 10 Moe) vouchers to give away, some informative CFA videos playing on the big screen as people had lunch, and of course the new No-Fee Green Waste Drop Off organised by Latrobe City Council.
Another feature of this year’s lunch was the launch of a brand-new community noticeboard located outside the CFA shed on Lynne Ave. This is a board to share emergency/bushfire-related information such as the risk map and important contacts, as well as community events and jobs. Getting the board up and running was a joint effort of the CBBM program, the brigade captain and a couple of nearby residents who offered their building expertise and suitable materials.
Similar to the last two years, the Clean Up initiative involved pairing up some people who needed additional support in cleaning up their property, such as help with pruning, burning off, clearing gutters and taking green waste to the tip. Many thanks to all those who volunteered their time and resources to assist their neighbours! Massive thank you also the Lion Club of Moe who not only put on a superb lunch but also offered their trailer to help with the green waste tip runs. Thank you to the CFA (Moe South brigade and District 27), TM&H, Lions Club, Latrobe City Council, Safer Together and most of all the Moe South community for your help making this initiative a success.
Neighbour Day BBQ 2.0 (26 March 2022)
For the second year running, the Moe South community celebrated “Neighbour Day” with a community barbecue at Simon Court.
On March 26 more than 30 residents came together to mark the annual Relationships Australia “Neighbour Day” campaign, aimed at strengthening connectivity in neighbourhoods.
At the barbecue, community members connected with new people and discussed shared aspirations for the community, including what aspects of disaster resilience they would like to work on or learn more about. Residents also had an opportunity to connect with the Latrobe Valley Sustainability Group given the linkages between climate change and exacerbated bushfire risks.
Thank you to the local CFA brigade, Latrobe City Council and Safer Together for supporting this event.
Bushfire Planning Workshop Dec 2021
On 15 December 2021, 16 Moe South residents came together for a CFA-led Bushfire Planning Workshop. This was an informative and helpful session to better understand the trigger points for evacuating the area, preparing your property and the practical planning that needs to happen prior to fire season. There was also the opportunity to scan important personal documents such as medical scripts, passports, wills etc onto free USBs to help individuals with their personal preparedness.
Thank you to District 27 for organising this wonderful evening, to Sue for organising the document scanning, and to all the participants who came along!
Clean Up Weekend 2021 (& Sign Launch)
Melbourne Cup Weekend is becoming synonymous with ‘Clean Up Weekend’ for the Moe South community. For the second year running, residents of the rural acreages worked hard on their blocks with the assistance of Safer Together-supported free green waste pick up. Moe Lions Club hosted delicious sausage sizzle lunches at the fire station on both the Saturday and Sunday, and people reconnected again after several stints of Latrobe lockdowns. Whilst the aim of the Weekend was to support residents with bushfire preparedness activities, the timing was also synced with cleaning up from the storm that ravaged the State on Friday 29 October.
As per the event last year, individuals who needed assistance were able to reach out for support, and generous locals offered their time, skills and resources to assist where needed. This helped form new connections and strengthen long-standing relationships.
This year’s Clean Up also coincided with a working bee that volunteers of the Edward Hunter Heritage Bush Reserve Committee were conducting. This added to the spirit of tidying up public and private land in the lead up to bushfire season.
To add to the suite of bushfire preparedness activities over this year’s Cup Weekend, a new sign that was recently erected at the entrance to Moe South was also officially launched, with an informal ribbon cutting ceremony held with the key individuals involved in the project and designing the sign. This sign was a community initiative aimed at acknowledging the growing consciousness of residents about their shared responsibility in maintaining their properties in a bushfire-smart way. It’s hoped it’ll also communicate to visitors that they are entering an area that takes their bushfire risk seriously, and so should they.
Thank you to the Moe South community, Moe South CFA brigade, CFA District 27, Moe Lions Club, Edward Hunter Committee, Safer Together and Latrobe City Council for supporting this very productive weekend!
Beyond the Burning Film Screening – World Environment Day (5 June 2021)
On Saturday 5 June, about 20 Moe South and Latrobe Valley residents came together over Zoom to watch a short film made by Environment Victoria, titled ‘Beyond the Burning’. Focused on the East Gippsland 2019/2020 fires, the film looked at key themes such as the impact of fires on wildlife, the ongoing role of Aboriginal land management and knowledge sharing, rebuilding with renewables and transitioning to a better future. We then discussed what some of those themes look like closer to the Moe South area. We heard from Latrobe City Council about the Strzelecki-Apline Biolink Project and other exciting new renewable energy initiatives in the pipeline for the Valley. With the World Environment Day theme for 2021 being ecosystem regeneration, it was important to discuss strategies for enhancing ecosystem regeneration without altering bushfire risk in the landscape. Thank you Nathan Misuirka from LCC for joining us and sharing about these new projects and initiatives.
We also explored some similarities of the climate crisis with COVID, in terms of the importance of listening to the science, acting with urgency and the need for everyone to play their part.
Moe South ABC: Addressing Bushfire and Climate Change
To watch the five minute video, please use this Google Drive link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o7YUL6ed_1bepSnJiZWuGHG6tjXCwxnW/view
Neighbour Day x CBBM BBQ March 2021
On Saturday 27 March, Moe South marked Neighbour Day 2021 with a community barbecue on a local residential court. Neighbour Day is a fantastic opportunity to bring people together and strengthen connectivity among residents. Moe South is also a Community Based Bushfire Management (CBBM) community through the State-wide Safer Together program, aiming to enhance bushfire risk reduction and disaster resilience through a range of ways, including through people-to-people connections within communities. Through this event, residents came together to think about practical steps they can take individually and collectively to support bushfire prevention, preparedness, awareness and, ultimately, community safety. Thank you to the CFA, Safer Together and Latrobe City Council for supporting this event.
Ladies Morning Tea December 2020
Moe South Community Clean Up November 2020
Over Cup Weekend, the Moe South community put on a Community Clean Up to prepare for the upcoming bushfire season. This initiative was part of Safer Together’s Community Based Bushfire Management project, supporting communities to reduce fire risk and build resilience in the spirit of shared responsibility and shared contribution.
During an initial online meeting prompted by a survey sent to all Moe South residents, the community recognised individual property maintenance as a key part of reducing fire risk in the Moe South area. In the lead up to a long-weekend working bee, a planning workshop was held online to help residents understand their rights and responsibilities as rural land owners, what is “best practice” to building a fire-ready home and landscape, and how to follow Council regulations in their preparations. We also had a special feature from Victoria Legal Aid to highlight the importance of insurance for residents in high-bushfire risk areas.
The community clean up was held from Saturday 31st October to Tuesday 3rd November, with special lunches held on the Saturday and Sunday outside the CFA station, Pindari Road, Matthew Court and Simon Court. An estimated 50 properties participated in the clean up, and free green waste collection was made available with the support of Safer Together and CFA Vegetation Management.
The lunches were a great opportunity for residents to reconnect after many months of isolation. Residents were also encouraged to request and offer assistance, with several community members volunteering their time and resources to help out their neighbours. Important connections were forged and strengthened over the course of the weekend. Alongside property preparation, community relationships are essential in building resilience to any hazard or emergency event.
Special thanks to Theo Van Der Meulen from Latrobe Valley Camera Club who volunteered his time and skills on the Saturday to help us capture the initiative (click here to see more photos). Thanks also to the CFA volunteers who were on standby for the burn-offs happening over the course of the clean up. Thank you to the community members who offered assistance to others and thanks to everyone who participated, attended the lunches and helped make this event a success!
