Rebuilding Boolarra and Yinnar

The Communities

At the foothills of the Eastern Strzelecki Ranges, Boolarra is made up of around 1100 people, while Yinnar is home to around 585 people. Prior to the bushfires, the surrounding ranges were covered by temperate rainforest, with extensive stands of blackwoods and eucalypts.

Nearby are the communities of Delburn, Darlimurla and Yinnar South.

The major economic drivers and areas of local employment in the region include dairy and cattle farming, energy production and paper manufacture, schools and hospitals, forestry and logging, and the Boolarra Fish Farms.

Boolarra first came into existence in 1884 when a railway was built connecting Boolarra, Mirboo North and Yinnar to Morwell. Today the town has a population of 360, and is one of the smaller towns in Latrobe City.

Boolarra offers access to the Grand Ridge Rail Trail and Tarra Bulga National Park. Each March the town comes alive with the Boolarra Folk Festival. The town is also home to historic buildings, the Mirboo North-Boolarra Rail Trail, the Boolarra fish farm and the Boolarra Water Wheel Orchard where you can pick your own fresh berries in season.

Yinnar has a population of around 500 and sits amidst dairy country with beautiful views of the Jeeralang hills. The town is also home to the famous ARC Gallery which houses contemporary exhibitions from local talented artists, the Commercial Hotel, and Centenary Park, established in 1974 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the town.

The Bushfires

Starting in nearby plantation forests, the bushfires swept through the area in late January, burning for a number of days before being brought under control.

The fires claimed 35 properties in Boolarra and surrounds.

Some 650 metres of fencing at the Boolarra Recreation Reserve was destroyed and the Boolarra Cemetery was damaged. Parts of the Grand Ridge Rail Trail were either destroyed or extensively damaged.

Local business and industry were significantly impacted by the fires. In the aftermath, fish production was halted and the dairy industry suffered losses due to extended power outages and pasture loss. The damage to local forestry plantations is likely to have a 15-year impact.

Schools, kindergarten, childcare and shops were forced to close severely disrupting day-to-day community activities.

The water treatment plant and a key mobile phone transmission tower were also damaged.

Recovery Plan

Since the 2009 bushfires Community Recovery Committees and the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (the Authority) worked in partnership with the community, other government departments and authorities, the philanthropic sector and private donors to deliver outcomes for the vast majority of recovery projects proposed in the 33 Community Recovery Plans across the state. The plans have been pivotal in driving and directing the community rebuilding and recovery effort, through a focus on the needs and priorities of each individual community.

With around 1,100 projects and ideas identified in plans across Victoria, the Authority estimates that around 800 of these have been addressed in varying ways. Hundreds more projects identified outside this process have been delivered across affected communities.

The attachments below include the Community Recovery Plan and the response and funding status for all of the projects originally identified: