LAST Friday, October 10, the Kongwak community came together for their famed “casserole night” to celebrate the installation of the community’s 35KVA standby generator.
Hall Committee vice president Tim Ryan conducted the evening and explained how the hall had received $94,000 from AusNet to help set up their hall as a resilience centre in case of future emergency situations.
Tim explained how the town had experienced regular power outages, some lasting for many days, in recent times. These outages had adversely impacted residents’ access to cooking, water and telecommunications.
“We are working to build resilience within Kongwak, with the support of South Gippsland Shire, local CFA, Kongwak Market, community groups, Kongwak Primary School and AusNet to have the hall as a disaster hub for residents,” Tim explained.
Kim Sullivan from AusNet addressed the gathering, highlighting their major community grants to areas across Victoria and how AusNet is rolling out the program again this year.
Councillor Bron Beach from Strzelecki Ward praised the Kongwak Hall Committee and the community for their efforts in putting together this resilience program.
Within the next few weeks, the hall will be connected to the Starlink satellite to prevent previous problems with telecommunications outages during an emergency. They are also in the process of installing showers, so locals can have washing facilities during an emergency.
Tim assured people from adjacent areas like Moyarra, Wattlebank, Jumbunna and Outtrim that they would be offered access to these facilities as well. The gathering then adjourned outside, where the mains power was turned off and everything went dark. The crowd clapped and cheered as Kim Sullivan started the generator, and power was restored. Coincidentally, local historians reported that it was just 100 years since mains power was first connected to Kongwak in 1926.
