In line with the Country Fire Authority's (CFA) declaration of an Extreme fire danger day for Monday 27 January, there will be several facilities closures and changes to Council services.
The changes are in place to protect the safety of the community and employees on days rated by the CFA as having Extreme fire danger.
Council employees and contractors will not work or travel in fire risk zones at the highest risk times.
As a result, the following service closures and changes will be in place on Monday:
- Anglesea Landfill will open 5am-10am, Anglesea Transfer Station will open 9-10am and Anglesea Re-sale Shed will be closed. Lorne and Winchelsea Transfer Stations will be closed.
- Residential kerbside bin collections in Lorne and Deans Marsh will start at 5am and finish by 10am. Residents are advised to place their bins out on Sunday evening.
- Public street litter bins in high risk areas (outside Torquay and Winchelsea) will be collected before 10am. A second litter bin service may take place after 6pm if the expected cool change arrives in the afternoon. No changes to public litter bin collections in Torquay and Winchelsea with two collections planned in the morning and afternoon.
- Public toilet cleaning in the townships of Winchelsea and Torquay will continue as per the summer holiday cleaning schedule. All other public toilets outside of these two locations will have cleaning operate until 10am. A later cleaning service may be performed if safe to do so in high risk areas after 6pm if the expected cool change arrives.
- Lorne and Anglesea visitor information centres will be closed, with services accessible from the Torquay Visitor Information Centre.
General Manager Community Life Damian Waight said Council was preparing for the possibility of dangerous fires.
"The safety of the community and our employees is our absolute highest priority and the expert CFA advice is to avoid high risk areas on Extreme or Catastrophic fire danger days," he said.
"We urge everyone to be prepared for Monday's Extreme fire danger day by downloading the VicEmergency app, having a fire plan and knowing when to leave, and following the CFA's advice," Mr Waight said.
Based on the CFA's forecast, it is expected all services will return to standard operation on Tuesday 28 January. Any changes to this will be communicated.
Council's Facebook and Instagram pages will carry further updates as they become available.
Information about fire danger ratings is available on the CFA website.
