Mayor praises generous donation after Council receives 40 generators t

Published on 25 February 2015

With parts of the Rockhampton Region now into their sixth day of no power, Mayor Margaret Strelow praises former resident Bevan Slattery for his generosity after donating 40 2kilowatt generators on Tuesday.

Since TC Marcia caused power outages on Friday, Mayor Strelow says Council has been extremely concerned for the elderly and those with severe health issues who are reliant on electricity.

“I cannot express how grateful we are for Bevan’s generosity in helping our community during this trying time,” Mayor Strelow said.

“Within 24 hours of the generators arriving, all 40 were distributed and some have since been returned and reallocated as power is restored in areas.

“So far our LDCC has received over 100 calls for generators, and there’s no sign of these requests slowing down until the power is back on."

Council has been working in partnership with Queensland Health who is assisting with the assessment and prioritisation of the requests.

Generators have been prioritised to those with critical medical issues which has included people with kidney problems requiring hot water, those with severe breathing difficulties requiring power for oxygen and the elderly suffering from a range of health issues.

“We have a dedicated team of staff who are delivering the generators to people who cannot collect them themselves, including residents in the Livingstone Shire who have contacted us for support.”

Mr Slattery, who is a former North Rockhampton High School student and Council employee, turned IT entrepreneur has also assisted in providing 128 charging stations at Stockland Rockhampton.

“We cannot thank Bevan enough for his contributions,” she said.