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SES unveils its new hub

Shire of Gnowangerup vice president Fiona Gaze, Randall Smith, Rosemary Seneviratre and president Keith House. Picture: Sophie Clapin

The keys to the Gnowangerup State Emergency Service building were officially handed over to volunteers last week, after seven months of renovations.

The new building will become the emergency hub for the entire Great Southern region, providing volunteers with new offices, six emergency phone lines, kitchen facilities and a new training operations room.

The original building was demolished and renovations started in October last year.

Local manager Les Nayda said it had been a fantastic outcome for everyone involved to complete something of this scale on time and on budget.

“The previous base didn’t even have running hot water,” he said.

“It is definitely a bigger asset for the local community and for many years to come it will be something the community can be very, very proud of.”

One of the biggest improvements to the building is the new training operations room, which would provide units with the facilities to conduct regional training and courses.

It will also become a base for other regional services to utilise.

Shire of Gnowangerup president Keith House said the new venue acknowledged the contribution of the volunteers.

“We, as a community, are really proud of them and proud of their outcomes,” he said.

“I am sure they will take this regional centre, and it will become quite the facility for quality training and development.”