Issues of Interest

Region 13 Volunteers give feedback information on fuel management practises for Royal Commission

In February the Royal Commission will be discussing matters of particular interest to the Community Safety Advisory Committee (CSAC) including fuel management and roadside clearing policies. Trevor Roche is VFBV's Royal Commission Project Officer and has met with volunteer members of CSAC to get an understnding of VFBV's position on some of the issues that will arise.

Region 13 volunteers along with others from the rest of the State have provided information on a wide range of fuel management issues. Although a complex subject, positive information has been provided and from this a position will be formulated.

Some areas covered were:

• Roadside clearing, roadsides were wicks for the fire to travel on Feb 7th, is the current clearing work effective?
• Complexity of obtaining permits for private land clearing, red tape putting people off from carrying out work
• Authority for brigades to conduct fuel reduction burns - is the procedure too involved to be a viable option?
• Relevance of previous fuel management submissions by VFBV - good work has been done in the past, previous submissions are still relevant and need checking for RC submission
• Previous strategic fire breaks have they fallen into disrepair?
• Blanket approach for fuel management not an answer, individual problems to be treated as individual issues and addressed accordingly
• Fuel management for dwellings and buildings, are they adequate?
• Consider the bigger picture of responsibility and effectively dealing with fuel management. Is the problem bigger than can be handled by Statutory Authorities and should we be looking at a broader solution?

Geoff Peacock, Bill watson VFBV Region 13

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