New England SES wants to rebuild smaller units throughout the region

Barraba's SES disbanded in 2020, when the unit captain retired.

Since then the small community has relied on the Manilla unit, located about 45 kilometres away, to assist during natural disasters.

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"It all started with a flood event we had here [in Barraba] earlier in the year," former Barraba SES member Greg Forder said.

"They had to get SES up from Manilla to help us out, and I thought that was not good."

It was then, Mr Forder said, that he started to campaign to get the unit back up and running.

"I put notices in the local paper here and on the Barraba noticeboard on Facebook and got a response from that. Then we decided to recruit on Saturday market day," he said.

"It's been about getting people interested, putting notices in shop windows and get the word out."

So far, with the assistance of the New England SES, Mr Forder, has recruited 12 members.

New England SES deputy zone commander Superintendent Matt Kirby said the redevelopment of SES zones is enabling the reactivation of smaller units.

"The NSW SES has changed the way we do things out in this area [New-England]," he said.

"We have developed the north western zone and we will have 22 staff who will help manage the area."

Mr Kirby said they are also looking to reactivate units in Uralla, Warialda, and Mungindi.

"We are hoping the local community can look after themselves during flooding or storm events," he said.

"We are hoping to build those units back up, so they can support their local communities."

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