SA Firefighter
General Discussion => Country Fire Service => Topic started by: Crank on November 26, 2007, 11:37:44 AM
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Feel free to explain your vote here.
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I am unsure as i was not around when council ran the show,however having said that there must have been some rich groups when council did run the show as some of the appliances and gear that is at some stations was funded by council and at a guess I would say you would have no hope in hell getting CFS to fund it now....
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I can remember when being affiliated with the council, the brigade I was in at the time were better off. It worked out on the intial changeover of funding to state we were immediately $50 000.00 less in expenditure with new equipment and accessories.
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Since I have only been in the CFS for almost two years, I cant comment on whether the CFS is better of being funded by local councils or the state. However I believe that both systems of funding would have there advantages and disadvantages. I think the biggest issue with the local council funding a brigade or multiple brigades would be how much is the local community willing to support them. Atleast under council funding, brigades would have a better chance of getting appliances that will do what they need it to do, not a one size fits all arrangement. (I dont believe that in a service like the CFS, where circumstances of brigades and groups varries greatly, that a standardised appliance system is neccissarily the best, its just more cost effective.)
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It had its pros and cons being funded by the council, its was easier to get things purchased via council if it fell outside budget limitations, but like some one has said already it also meant for some brigades that if they where in a council area with lower incomes and rates it meant the funds were not there, where as councils like Burnside & Mitcham where well off due to the higher incomes of the area and had the ability to share the wealth so to speak.
Id have to say I'm undecided to which would be the best funding option.
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Quite a few councils received some funding from State, but refused to hand on the full amount to SES Units. Others stated they were 'holding funds' as rental of the LHQ properties. So some were very generous and some were not.
Every Unit used to 'fund raise' to build or buy basic equipment (trucks, rescue litters, chainsaws, etc). Thus a huge variety in equipment types and the types of vehicles on the road.
Some would like to go back, but they were generally the rich Units who had fully supportive councils.