Shoreham Resilience Network
By John Matthews
Members of the Shoreham community are working to establish a resilience network with the support of the CFA, SES and Mornington Peninsula Shire. The goal is for locals to help each other prepare for, and respond to, emergencies such as fires, storms, power or phone outages.
The idea builds on the successful Hill & Ridge Neighbour Network groups formed after the 2021 storms. That storm caused many roads to be blocked and many properties were without power or communications for an extended period. A key lesson learned was the need to form groups and plan, in advance, so the community can support itself, particularly in the aftermath of an emergency event.
The Mornington Peninsula Shire resilience team has been very helpful supporting us so far. Earlier this year, they surveyed the community to find out how prepared communities are for emergencies and natural disasters. Responses helped inform a draft “Community Disaster Resilience Plan,” that has just been released by the Shire and is available to review and provide feedback.
Initiatives such as the Shoreham Resilience Network are included in it.
In January this year, a group of us in the Shoreham area came together at a public meeting to work out how we could establish a community self-help neighbour network, with the idea receiving strong support. Since that meeting, work has continued on how best to structure the network. We are now calling it the Shoreham Resilience Network as this best describes what we are trying to do.
With Spring upon us, and our first major wind storm of the season still fresh in everyone’s mind, we think it’s time to get cracking on the job of forming the small groups of proximate neighbours across Shoreham that together will make up our network.
We are currently getting back to those who offered to be group coordinators and who attended briefings earlier in the year, and then plan to build the network from there.
I have started working my way up Shoreham Road where I live, which is tricky, given the size of the larger properties. My focus has been on reaching out to property owners I know and then between us we fill in the gaps.
Others will be walking around to meet their potential network members face to face. If you do not live permanently at your property, they might leave a card under the front door, like the one below, in the hope you’ll get back to us.
The more people involved, the better chance we have of helping each other.
If you have any questions or want to become involved in a group, please contact John Matthews by email at shorehamresiliencenetwork@gmail.com.
If you receive this card under your door or in your letter box, please respond so we can build a stronger and more resilient Shoreham.