Public Works Committee: Gawler State Emergency Service Unit

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:40): I move:

That the 79^th report of the committee, titled Gawler State Emergency Service Unit, be noted.

The South Australian State Emergency Service (SES) is an emergency assistance and rescue organisation providing emergency assistance to the people of South Australia 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Its mission is to minimise injury, loss of life and damage from natural disasters and other emergencies. The service relies on the dedicated work of over 1,700 volunteers and a team of full-time staff based in nearly 70 units across the state.

In 2016-17, a review of trends in SES response taskings and volunteer workload across greater metropolitan Adelaide highlighted an increasing demand for SES services in several areas. The Gawler-Willaston area was identified as the highest priority area for short to medium-term action. This was due to the rapid and significant growth in residential properties; the significant risk profile of the area, largely due to regular flooding of the Gawler and South Para rivers; and the poor area coverage from existing SES units, with Salisbury and Kapunda being the nearest facilities.

In 2019, a site was procured at Lot 1 Gawler River Road, Willaston for the purpose of establishing a new unit, with the land title in the name of the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. The site, at approximately 18,000 square metres in size, provides sufficient land for a new unit with a high-capability function, training facilities, sandbagging area and emergency services staging area and is located between the existing Salisbury and Kapunda units.

The Salisbury SES is one of the busiest units in the state, and over the last 10 years the Salisbury unit alone has responded to over 7,000 requests for assistance. This SES unit has the largest response area in the state, and the establishment of a new unit at Gawler will help alleviate the pressure on both this unit as well as the Kapunda unit.

The South Australian government committed to the establishment of this new Gawler unit at the 2022 state election. The capital cost of the project is $4.9 million, with construction expected to commence in August this year and completion anticipated approximately six to nine months from the commencement of construction. The Department for Infrastructure and Transport will oversee the design, tender and construction stages of the new facility as well as provide risk management services. It is expected that the new facility will have an asset life of at least 40 years.

This facility will significantly increase the SES service delivery to the northern metropolitan area whilst providing key support to allied emergency service agencies, particularly the Gawler Metropolitan Fire Service station and the Roseworthy Country Fire Service station. The proposed new site aligns with the ambition of the SES to utilise its funding on facilities and to meet the required SES building and performance standards. It will provide sufficient space for training, operational crew and rescue appliances of the highest quality as well as sufficient space to safely access and egress from the unit.

This project will provide a facility that will support the SES to protect life, property and the environment from the effects of floods, storms, heatwaves and other dangers to the growing residential, commercial and industrial assets in Adelaide's northern suburbs. It will be a modern, environmentally conscious and low-maintenance facility and will accommodate emergency service appliances and equipment as well as facilities for training and administration.

The new site will feature an operations building and an appliance building. The operations building will include a training room, offices and a communications room with a storeroom, kitchen and amenities. This will be a single-storey building and designed to meet Importance Level 3 requirements. The training room can also function as a major incident control centre during a major emergency or multiple emergencies.

The appliance building will include two engine bays with panel lift doors and battery backup to accommodate appliances, a lockable storeroom, amenities and laundry area. This will be a single-storey building and will be designed to meet Importance Level 4 requirements, meaning it can offer post-disaster resilience, or island mode operation, for up to 48 hours.

The site will contain off-street car parking spaces for SES personnel, alongside additional visitor and disability parking. Entry to the site will be via two secure driveways off Two Wells Road. Emergency vehicles will enter the site via the northern access point and exit from the southern access point.

The project is placed to embrace ecologically sustainable development by including green building techniques and design practices in the works. Emphasis has been placed on a balanced design that will ensure that the building incorporates a range of environmentally sustainable initiatives while maintaining operational outcomes for the SES. These design elements include:

natural cross-ventilation via louvres as well as roof ventilators for appliance bays;

the use of LED lighting and intelligent lighting controls, including dimmable controllers, to reduce energy use;

roof-mounted solar cells to reduce peak energy demand;

landscape plantings to be selected for their drought tolerance, low maintenance and non-invasive nature; and

the collection of rainwater from the large, expansive roof area into a storage tank that can be used for garden irrigation.

The SES has consulted with its chief officer and executives, the Gawler SES unit steering committee and working group, and local authorities. The design of this facility reflects the operational requirements of the SES to train and prepare its personnel to provide effective emergency services to the community of the northern metropolitan area.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to the Gawler State Emergency Service unit. Witnesses who appeared before the committee were John Harrison, Director, Building Projects, Department for Infrastructure and Transport; Kristy Phelps, Director, Corporate and Operations Support, SA State Emergency Service; Justin Tulloch, Project Manager, Construction Adviser, Department for Infrastructure and Transport; and James Buccella, Building Projects Officer, SA State Emergency Service. I thank the witnesses for their time. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the member for Light for his statement in support of this project in his electorate.

Based upon the evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public work.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:47): I rise to make a few brief comments supporting this build of the Gawler State Emergency Service unit. Gawler has certainly grown massively, and the surrounding districts have certainly grown, since the settlement of this state. In fact, at one time Gawler was quite the regional area. Certainly, it is a place close to my heart. Both sets of grandparents lived up there. In fact, my great-great-grandparents moved out there in the mid to late 1800s from a little farm at Plympton.

Gawler has really become part of the urban area now as we see it. It is nearly infilled all the way between Adelaide and Gawler, and certainly there is massive growth around Angle Vale. We have Riverlea just up the road, where there are thousands of homes going in. We have the Concordia development happening and also much growth out in the Roseworthy region.

This unit will be, I suppose sadly in a way, much needed, but that is what you need. You need that disaster resilience capacity to assist people. I take my hat off to the 1,700 SES volunteers in this state and the staff who support them and the vital work that they do. I know that into the future they will do that work supporting the other bases, whether they be from Salisbury or Kapunda nearby.

Just as an aside, certainly during the River Murray floods 18 months ago and around that time, it was just fantastic to see the SES personnel who came out to the River Murray to assist with sandbagging and other roles. Certainly, I support these works, and they will be much needed in an area that is growing significantly and will grow well into the future.

The Hon. D.R. CREGAN (Kavel—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Special Minister of State) (11:49): I wish to acknowledge the important work of the Public Works Committee to ensure that this particular investment can be progressed. As members are aware, it was a government election commitment to ensure that the government is funding the establishment of a new SASES unit at Gawler at an estimated total project cost as has been detailed.

The importance of these particular works I think can be described in two ways. First, as we have already heard, there is particular need because of population growth. It must be said that there has been some examination of need in this area for some time in the Gawler and Willaston area. Secondly, of course, the SES has been monitoring the number of call-outs and the demand for services. As members are aware, the service overall over a 12-month period has been putting in about 43,000 hours in order to respond to over 6,000 incidents.

We know that South Australians do rely on the State Emergency Service and we do know that there is a need for additional capital investment, including in this particular area. As has been detailed, the site is located approximately halfway between the existing SES units at Salisbury and Kapunda and provides the ideal location, based on the demographic changes that have been described and the need that exists, to establish a new purpose-built SES facility.

The project scope has been well outlined and I know from the information that has come to hand that this particular facility will be very much welcomed by the community. I want to indicate that we are aware that the recruitment of volunteers and initial training is anticipated from about August this year onwards, and that the unit is intended to be fully operational into 2025.

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:52): I find myself again thanking the member for Hammond for his contribution to this debate. If there is one thing he knows about more than the Murray Mallee region or interstate freight, it is the history of farming in northern Adelaide, and so it is always good to hear from him on those subjects. I would also like to thank the minister for his contribution and, again, I commend the report to the parliament.

Motion carried.