Renewen Strathewen a community led recovery after bushfire Strathewen Community Renewal Association Inc.

Entrant for Safer Community Awards 2010

Includes entry form, submission, 1 DVD.

Our community was devastated by the February 7th 2009 bushfire which began in Kilmore East, swept across the Kinglake Ranges and down in to the Strathewen valley on its way to St Andrews and Kinglake. Twenty seven lives were lost in Strathewen and eighty of the one hundred and twenty homes were destroyed. In a community of two hundred and twenty, the physical, social and psychological devastation was profound. In the days following the disaster it became obvious that Strathewen had received little attention in the thinking of emergency services before, during or after the fire. Residents felt that the media had overlooked the plight of Strathewen, overshadowed by bigger and better known locations such as Kinglake and Marysville. It was clear that government and non-government agencies had commenced an enormous recovery effort and that a small community like ours could be swept along by the States disaster recovery imperatives, unless we established a legitimate Strathewen voice. Public meetings were held and a steering group established to draft a constitution for an incorporated association. The Strathewen Community Renewal Association came into existence at a public meeting on the 28th June.