Eurobodalla Council and the NSW Rural Fire Service have updated mapping of bush fire prone land in Eurobodalla.
Every Council in NSW is required by legislation to map bush fire prone land according to conditions set by the RFS in its Guide for Bush Fire Prone Land Mapping.
The map, reviewed and certified by the NSW RFS Commissioner, is used as a trigger to ensure new developments have adequate protection from bush fire.
Depending on the level of risk, mitigation measures may need to be incorporated into development, ranging from things like metal flyscreens and gutter guards, to modifying the style, construction material or location of a building.
The new mapping is not a result of the 2019/2020 fires and is a legislative requirement and was already being reviewed before the fires.
Eurobodalla Council’s planning director Lindsay Usher said that land being mapped as bush fire prone did not prevent development from happening, and existing buildings would not require retrospective modifications simply because they were now mapped.
“The new mapping will only affect you if you are planning a new development on your property, such as building, renovating or starting a home-based business. It is, however, a timely reminder for all property owners to ensure they have a bush fire survival plan,” he said.
Most land in Eurobodalla is considered bush fire prone, with pockets of urban land in and around Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma not considered at risk.
Mr Usher said the RFS had recently updated its guidelines since the last map to recognise the risk of grasslands, resulting in a lot of Eurobodalla’s farmland being newly mapped.
“About an additional 18,400 hectares of land have now been designated as bush fire prone land in the new map. The vast majority of these, 639 properties, are on rural RU1 land,” he said.
For more information visit www.esc.nsw.gov.au and search for “bush fire prone land map 2021” or CLICK HERE to see the map.
Click image above for full sized map.
Vegetation Category 1 RED (source)
Vegetation Category 1 is considered to be the highest risk for bush fire. It is represented as red on the bush fire prone land map and will be given a 100m buffer. This vegetation category has the highest combustibility and likelihood of forming fully developed fires including heavy ember production.
Vegetation Category 1 consists of: › Areas of forest, woodlands, heaths (tall and short), forested wetlands and timber plantations.
Vegetation Category 2 LIGHT ORANGE
Vegetation Category 2 is considered to be a lower bush fire risk than Category 1 and Category 3 but higher than the excluded areas. It is represented as light orange on a bush fire prone land map and will be given a 30 metre buffer.
This vegetation category has lower combustibility and/or limited potential fire size due to the vegetation area shape and size, land geography and management practices.
Vegetation Category 2 consists of:
› Rainforests.
› Lower risk vegetation parcels.
These vegetation parcels represent a lower bush fire risk to surrounding development and consist of:
› Remnant vegetation;
› Land with ongoing land management practices that actively reduces bush fire risk.
These areas must be subject to a plan of management or similar that demonstrates that the risk of bush fire is offset by strategies that reduce bush fire risk; AND include:
› Discrete urban reserve/s;
› Parcels that are isolated from larger uninterrupted tracts of vegetation and known fire paths;
› Shapes and topographies which do not permit significant upslope fire runs towards development;
› Suitable access and adequate infrastructure to support suppression by firefighters;
› Vegetation that represents a lower likelihood of ignitions because the vegetation is surrounded by development in such a way that an ignition in any part of the vegetation has a higher likelihood of detection.
Vegetation Category 3 Vegetation
Category 3 is considered to be medium bush fire risk vegetation. It is higher in bush fire risk than category 2 (and the excluded areas) but lower than Category 1.
It is represented as dark orange on a Bush Fire Prone Land map and will be given a 30 metre buffer.
This category consists of:
› Grasslands, freshwater wetlands, semi-arid woodlands, alpine complex and arid shrublands.
For more information, contact Council’s development helpdesk via email development@esc.nsw.gov.au or phone 4474 1231.
