Swansea welcomed an important new addition to the East Coast community on Saturday with the opening of the Glamorgan Spring Bay Fire and Emergency Services Facility.
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Situated in Maria Street, the new building will house Tasmania Fire Service, State Emergency Service and Ambulance Tasmania, and will also provide training room facilities for Swansea Volunteer Rescue.
Glamorgan Spring Bay Council contributed more than $800,000 towards the project, while a further sum of about $250,000 was attained through the National Disaster Resilience Program.
Mayor Michael Kent said the multi-operation facility would allow for increased communication and unity between the different emergency outfits.
“It’s very good from my perspective because you’ve got all those specialty groups in the one building, you’ve got the ambulance here, the fire brigade there and the SES,” Cr Kent said.
“They’ve got their own driveways to put their vehicles in and they’ve got the rooms with all the technology so it could hardly be any better in my opinion.”
Cr Kent expected the facility’s central location would also prove to be of great benefit.
“It’s great for the local community in so far as (the services) can access hotspots very quickly, so if there’s a fire, they’re set and they’re in a new complex.
“A lot of it is to do with being able to get to wherever they need to go in the shortest possible time.”
The facility was opened by Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding, while Labor Lyons MHR Brian Mitchell and Liberal Lyons MP Mark Shelton also attended.
Mr Hidding said the new facility was a testament to the cooperation between the three emergency services and all three levels of government.
“This new combined facility, which is supported by a large number of volunteers in the region, will allow a rapid response from emergency services to a wide area extending beyond the township of Swansea,” Mr Hidding said.
“(The facility) is a great example of what can be achieved through a whole-of-government cooperative approach.”