“Red fleet” off council’s books will save ratepayers thousands

Watching RFS vehicles flying around the region during bushfire emergencies, few ratepayers would be aware that local councils carry the cost for their repair, maintenance, and annual depreciation.

That’s all going to be in the past as of next financial year with the State Government taking on the cost of these “red fleet” vehicles… and Dubbo Mayor, Josh Black, couldn’t be happier!

The change has been a long time coming, he said, with the hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual savings to now be available for dedicated council works, he told Dubbo Photo News.

“Through the old Shire’s Association, the Mayor’s Association, Local Government NSW, we’ve been asking for this since 2002,” the mayor revealed.

“To have the red fleet removed from Council’s balance sheet will be a great relief. We currently have to pay for the depreciation, maintenance, and repairs of these vehicles,” he explained.

The cost, he added, is no small amount to a country council covering 7500km for vehicles ranging from large tankers, four-wheel drives, and mini-cabs.

“We host 15–20 RFS units in our region, and it would have to be upwards of 50 vehicles in the whole region, easily.

“I don’t know the exact amount, but it would also have to cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for servicing, tyres, repairs. We never see them, but we pay for their upkeep,” he revealed.

This “archaic system” he says, is “thankfully” now being replaced from July next year with centralised repair centres for the whole fleet.

The $470 million investment in the 2026/27 NSW Budget will seek to modernise management of the NSW RFS fleet to ensure that RFS trucks are safe and reliable.

This reform will consolidate operational responsibility for the red fleet under the State Government for the first time since the RFS was established almost 30 years ago with ownership and management being transferred from councils from July 1, 2027.

The new arrangements will seek to deliver consistent statewide standards and improved reliability and vehicle lifecycle management, better reflecting the current operating model while continuing the longstanding partnership with councils to support emergency services.

Councils will be engaged over the coming 12 months to support the transition and identify opportunities to assist with future maintenance.

More than $34.5 million has also been invested to upgrade 28 rural fire brigade stations and Fire Control Centres this financial year, out of a wider $716.4 million investment in the RFS.

More than $29 million will be invested over two years to establish up to eight RFS regional maintenance hubs and providers, along with $106 million over four years for critical maintenance and safety upgrades.

These hubs will be job and apprenticeship creators for regional communities, “supporting local industry and strengthening the resilience of the RFS into the future”, the government blurb declared.

“The governments put a heap of money into building the eight service hubs around the state, but I have no idea if we’ll get one here,” Cr Black admitted.

“This is an absolutely fantastic decision, it was always a messy system, it will mean more money to put into heavy patching, road repairs, kerbing and guttering, whatever,” he concluded.

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Finding dough for foliage management

Working out the best ways to find money to keep and improve foliage cover for one of the State’s hottest major regional cities is at the heart of a recent report presented to council.

The report provided councillors with a “consolidated overview” of tree management activities undertaken between January 2025 and March 2026, including planting, removals, replacements, irrigation, maintenance, and supporting systems.

The overall aim, Mayor Josh Black said, is to find the most-efficient way to provide cover in our hot summers for residents in our major population areas, something that council is currently struggling to fund.

“What came out of the recent yearly report, is that we’re not planting enough trees for those that are lost,” Cr Black told Dubbo Photo News.

“it’s about trying to increase even maintain the tree canopy for those lost to end of life issues, storms, and pest issues,” he added.

According to Local Government NSW, Dubbo CBD has an overall urban tree canopy cover of approximately nine per cent, with some areas in the CBD and specific older streets falling to as low as 2.8 per cent.

“This is significantly lower than the targets of 30–40 per cent recommended for urban NSW areas to mitigate the ‘heat island’ effect,” LGNSW stated.

Cr Black said that that there are two or three theories on the best way to try and improve canopy cover, in our oppressively-hot summers, a major factor in how “liveable” an inland city is.

“We’ve talked about different approaches, do you plant fewer, older trees that have a higher survival rate, but cost a lot more to purchase?

“Or do you got for tube stock, which is cheap, but has high watering costs and which only 15–20 per cent of the trees planted, survive?” he asked.

He said that, while no decisions are likely at this stage, it is an issue for future discussion.

“You’d like the whole town to be planted like the ‘leafy’ North Shore of Sydney but, keeping the water up to them is the real challenge,” Cr Black said.

“Sending out a watering truck daily to keep them alive as they become established, you simply have no idea how expensive that is for a council,” he concluded.