A rural fire brigade could move into a new purpose-built station immediately beside its existing home under plans for a significant upgrade to its facilities.
Queensland Fire Department has applied to Sunshine Coast Council to build a replacement Ilkley and District Rural Fire Brigade station at the 89-99 Tanawha Road property at Tanawha.
The existing station occupies Lot 1 of the site, while the proposed facility would be constructed on the adjoining Lot 2.
Plans show a 436sqm single-storey station with five engine bays, a training room, amenities and lockers.
The development would also include two staff parking spaces, one accessible parking space, a rainwater tank, septic system and land application area.
A new driveway from Tanawha Road would cater for private and emergency vehicles, with no direct access proposed to Frizzo Connection Road.
The station would continue to operate on an on-call basis, with a maximum of two personnel on site during a typical shift.
Application documents do not identify a particular structural, safety or operational failure at the existing station that has prompted its replacement.
However, the planning report states the new facility would provide “significantly increased operational response capability and community safety functions”.
It states the design would provide greater flexibility for staffing and vehicle storage to meet current and future service requirements in Tanawha and across the wider Sunshine Coast.
QFD also states it continually analyses historic and predicted demand, the types and locations of incidents and response times when determining where stations should be positioned.
“The proposal will future-proof one of the fastest-growing regions in Queensland by delivering a contemporary RFB station and strengthen bushfire hazard prevention and response capabilities for the Tanawha, Sippy Downs and Sunshine Coast communities,” the report states.
Funding has been allocated for the replacement station through the QFD budget, although the planning documents do not specify an amount.
The proposed site is zoned rural residential and is bordered by homes to the west, with Frizzo Connection Road and the Sunshine Motorway to the east.
Because of the neighbouring homes, the application addresses potential noise from emergency vehicles.
Documents state lights and sirens would be activated during a call-out only when required for an escalated incident or to negotiate heavy traffic, while the station would also operate with regard to environmental noise requirements.
The Queensland government owns the proposed station lot, with the title listing the State of Queensland, represented by Queensland Fire Department, as registered owner.
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The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
