Are you ready for Summer?

Wingello is a great place to live.  Are you ready for this fire season.
Bush fires are a natural part of the Australian environment and occur regularly, but many people fail to prepare for them.  When threatened by bush fires, people will often leave it too late to make critical decisions and often have few safe options left.
So begins the excellent Rural Fire Service’s Bush Fire Survival Plan booklet.
You may recognise some local personalities in the above photo which forms part of the booklet.
On Saturday, 24 September the local fire brigade had an Open Day followed by a very important Community Awareness Meeting.  This was a combined meeting for Bundanoon, Penrose and Wingello but there was a very poor showing.  When there is a sniff of smoke in the air, everyone becomes very concerned.  This is often too late.
Wingello is a beautiful little village, surrounded by forest.  While the forest is a great part of the area’s beauty, it is also the source of our real bushfire risk.
As a resident you need to know how to prepare your home to reduce fire and ember risk, to prepare yourselves and have an evacuation plan in place, understand the fire danger ratings and what to do if a fire is threatening.
The Wingello Fire Captain is a very effective speaker, helping us to understand the dangers that bushfires pose.  The lessons of the recent Victorian bushfire disaster were certainly made relevant to us all.
It is critical that all families and residents have a current Bush Fire Survival Plan. These are available from the Wingello Shop or Fire Station.
The brigade is currently sending out a survey form and hope that everybody will complete and return it to the Wingello Shop addressed to the Wingello Fire Brigade. This survey will assist our fire brigade in defending your property in case of a fire. Shortly the brigade will be visiting properties to help and advise on preparing yourself and property in the event of a bush fire.

Now that’s a stone wall

A justifiably proud Simon next to his new dry stone wall.

A well built stone wall lasts for generations and is a very beautiful addition to any property.
One of the Wingello residents had a Stonewall building workshop and it went very well. Lots of participants had a fulfilling time learning how to build a dry stone wall from what would normally be considered very poor stones.  The result is something all concerned would be proud to have contributed to.

New Memorial Garden

You may have noticed all the work being done at the front of the Fire Brigade.  The David Quinlivan Memorial Garden has been re-established and is looking very good.
During the bush fires in the Wingello State Forest in January 1998 a Wingello tanker was seriously overrun by fire.  This resulted in the tragic loss of the brigade's Senior Deputy Captain, David Quinlivan. The remaining seven crew members who escaped the tanker sustained serious burns and injuries.
On Saturday 8th October the rededication of the David Quinlivan Memorial Garden was carried out by the NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons. David’s parents had flown up from Victoria to attend and assisted the Commissioner in the unveiling of the plaque. Thank you to all local residents who attended on the day.

How does the mail work in Wingello?

Wingello is a fully featured Licensed Post Office.  We are not large enough to have Australia Post Electronic Services - we are one of over 300 manual Post Offices around the country.
Mail arrives Monday to Friday between 7:30am and 8:15am.  The letters are then sorted into each resident’s mail folder or PO Box, then parcels are recorded and a red card placed in the appropriate folder or PO Box.
As you know, Wingello is tricky for addresses.  Some streets have alternate names, numbers may be duplicated and some have almost random lot numbers or house names.  We have no choice but to go by names which we match to addresses where we can.  To assist in this matching process we maintain a database of names and addresses which has helped us in delivery.
If you are new to the area, let us know who you are.  If we can’t find a match on the name, mail will be Returned to Sender after 2 weeks.
If you complete a Bill Pay by 3:00pm, it will be included in our reports which are included in the daily mail.  This is sent to the processing area in Melbourne where the details are recorded and the billers are notified.  Although this may take 2 to 3 days between payment time and notification, the official Wingello Post Office stamp serves as proof of payment.  We also take phone calls from billers if they require confirmation sooner.
At 3:45pm the mail is picked up and taken to the Bowral processing centre.  From here it is sent all over Australia and Internationally.
Sometimes mail is delayed.  But as you can see by our timing above, it is caught up in the system outside of Wingello.  We do not hold onto mail.

Wingello Village News October 2011

Wingello Village News October 2011

Wingello Village News for October 2011 is out.

Highlights:

Getting ready for Summer fire season
Stone Wall building in Wingello