Mrs Britnell said the devastating St Patrick’s Day bushfires proved the existing incident control centre at Walsh Road was too small to handle a full-scale response.

She said the south-west lacked a purpose built ICC to lead a co-ordinated approach to emergencies. 

Mrs Britnell said the fires highlighted the limitations of the existing Walsh Road facility in the city’s west.

“Portable offices and toilets were brought on site because the existing ICC just doesn’t have the capacity it needs,” she said.

“This is something that has been spoken about for a while now and the fires really highlighted the need for a purpose built facility that can feed back to the state control centre.”

Mrs Britnell said Deakin University made sense because of the facilities already available on site.

“There is access to super fast fibre optic internet, accommodation and catering facilities and direct transport links with a railway station and highway,” she said.

“It also provides opportunities for Deakin in terms of training and technology and will help make the campus a hub for industry and skill, not just education.

“It ticks all the boxes.”

Mrs Britnell said she had already had discussions with Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley and other stakeholders about the idea and would continue to advocate strongly. 

An Emergency Management Victoria spokeswoman said the plan was on the drawing board, but not definite. 

“High level initial discussions have been held with a number of stakeholders around the future needs for Warrnambool,” the spokeswoman said.

“Deakin has approached EMV informally about the possibility but there are no plans in place currently.” 

The Warrnambool incident control centre is a facility that is available for the management of incidents all year round.

The current ICC is also the CFA administration office. 

There are 40 ICCs across Victoria.

Warrnambool is one location. Other ICC locations within Western Victoria include Colac, Geelong, Ballarat, Ararat, Horsham and Heywood.