It’s been a long time coming but Valley Heights Rural Fire Brigade finally celebrated the official opening of its new station on Saturday.
Nearly 12 years in the making, the first tanker rolled into the state-of-the-art station beside the Great Western Highway on February 4, however the official honours were left until the weekend when Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons joined more than 300 people to declare the building open.
Two tankers and four support vehicles were handed over to local brigades on the day, while national medals, long service medals and clasps representing a combined 1405 years of service were also presented to volunteers from the Blue Mountains area.
Captain Stephen Price recognised the founding members of the Valley Heights Rural Fire Brigade and their efforts in building and extending the original station three times in the more than 50 years the brigade spent at its former Green Parade base, saying the day marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.
“After more than 10 years of continual frustration and setbacks, we saw little choice but to take the issue of our station to its last dying breath,” he said during his speech.
“Thankfully, logic and commonsense has once again prevailed.
“The communities of Valley Heights and Springwood and indeed, the wider Blue Mountains community have a facility that matches the requirements of a world class fire fighting agency such as ours.”
Founded in 1958, the 60-member brigade was first promised a new station on RailCorp land by then-Blue Mountains MP Bob Debus in 2000.
But negotiations between Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC) and RailCorp over the land’s lease continued until December 2010 when Blue Mountains Mayor Daniel Myles moved the council-owned highway site be swapped for two state government-owned lots at Lawson for construction of that brigade’s new station.
Former Blue Mountains MP and Rural Fire Service commissioner Phil Koperberg congratulated the brigade for their persistence over the new station, adding its construction was “not before bloody time”.
Blue Mountains Rural Fire district manager Superintendent David Hoadley paid tribute to Mr Price and brigade president Bert Clarke, acknowledging the new station had been “a long time coming for the brigade” but that it was “a great outcome for the district.
“I would like to congratulate the brigade for the patience and forbearance you have had,” he said.
“Quite a significant team of people . . . came together to build this station.”
The brigade presented a certificate of appreciation to Ian Kerry from Kerry’s Motors and Stihl for the donation of a blower, as well as Oliver from the Local Hire Shop at Valley Heights for providing equipment to complete landscaping at the station.
The brigade also extended thanks to Michelle Ollie from Sugar Plum Catering for providing at-cost catering on the day, as well as the wider local community for its support.
