14 Dec 2016 Seymour Telegraph, Seymour VIC (General News) The announcement that Broadford will receive a new ambulance station has been met with praise, with Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes labelling it the biggest cut-through issue in my electorate for a little while. There has been a lot of excitement about ambulance stations coming to country towns that have been asking for this for some time, Ms Symes told Victorian Parliament. The new Broadford facility will be staffed by seven full-time equivalent paramedics, part of a government package to employ 450 new paramedics over the next three years and the building or upgrading of 15 more ambulance branches across the state. In an adjournment in the upper house last Wednesday, Ms Symes said the Tatura and Broadford communities were keen to see upgrades in infrastructure such as the ambulance stations be planned in such a way that a CFA facility could be co-located with them. Both of these communities have been straight on to me about thanking the government for this commitment, eager to get it under way, but the day I announced the Tatura ambulance station I had a meeting with a Tatura (CFA) officer, she said. He was very keen to get in very quickly about the prospect of a co-location of an ambulance station and a new CFA station for Tatura. Likewise, I happened to be at an event at the Broadford CFA station and had an almost identical conversation with the CFA captain at Broadford. So I have gone out and asked the community about their thoughts through my Facebook page and I am getting some really strong feedback. Ms Symes called on Emergency Services Minister James Merlino for help to progress the co-location plans for Broadford and Tatura. A vital upgrade of the Broadford Living and Learning Centre also took a giant step forward on Monday when Ms Symes announced a $565 000 grant. The funding will help revitalise and transform the facility into a modern community hub to meet the changing needs of the expanding Broadford community. This project will be led by Mitchell Shire and will seek community input, but is expected to involve a reconfiguration and upgrade of the floor plan to incorporate multi-use office space, meeting rooms to cater for integrated community services and programs, an information technology training room and an upgrade of the existing kitchen space. Anyone who visits the Living and Learning Centre will see the potential for a vibrant buzzing community asset, but the condition of the facility is holding this back, Ms Symes said. Caption Text: Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.