Rebuilding Horsham

The Communities

As the retail, business and service heart of the wider Wimmera Region in the north-west corner of Victoria, Horsham has a population of around 13,500 people.

These activities provide most of the employment for the residents of Horsham and nearby towns such as Haven, while sheep, cattle, and grain farming drives local employment in the neighbouring communities of Remlaw, Riverside and Drung.

The Bushfires

The February fires destroyed three properties in Horsham, the Horsham Golf Club, one property in Drung and 9 properties in Haven. Many residents were involved in fighting the fires in the local area during the day, with some later returning home to find their own properties were very close to the fire front.

The area surrounding the Haven Recreation Reserve was severely impacted with the fire passing directly over the tennis courts and Haven Hall, which narrowly escaped as firefighters actively defended the prized community possession. The fire destroyed the local playground which has since been replaced by Council. 

The Barengi Gadjin Land Council reported the fire destroyed four of nine registered historic scarred trees along the Wimmera River. Such cultural heritage sites are of great significance to the Traditional Owners who have lived in this region all their lives and have a strong connection to the land.

The fires also had a significant impact on many of the region's farming properties, destroying almost 172 kilometres of boundary fencing (with 99 kilometres repaired to date) and burning almost 2217ha hectares of cropping and lifestyle farmland.

The Horsham Golf Club is ranked in the top 50 public access golf courses in Australia and damage to the golf clubhouse and surrounding land has been estimated at approximately $4.5 million.  The Golf Club is considered to be a top draw card for Horsham and provides economic stimulus for the community.

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: