Chris Anderson says it is “the more the merrier” as the community is invited to give feedback on a bushfire management plan. Photo: NSW Rural Fire Service Facebook.
Coastal communities are being called on to comment on a new plan for long-term bushfire risk management.
The Far South Coast Bush Fire Management Committee (Far South Coast BFMC) has released a Bush Fire Risk Management Plan for the region. The committee is a group of agencies, land managers and other stakeholders that work to reduce the effects of bushfires.
NSW RFS district coordinator for the Far South Coast Chris Anderson said the document would guide risk management for years to come.
“It’s a tenure-blind approach of how we’re going to mitigate risk over the Bega Valley and Eurobodalla local government areas over the next five yeas,” he said.
“This is the agencies’ document and gives the community a really good understanding of what’s going to happen [when a bushfire breaks out].”
The public can now have their say on the proposed plan.
“We’ve been working on this draft plan for approximately two years now, to get it into the state that it’s in to go out for public exhibition,” he said.
In preparing the plan, Mr Anderson said the Far South Coast BFMC ran a public survey in 2023 to hear from different sections of the community.
“At the start, there was modelling done about fuel loads throughout the landscape, economic risk, residential risk – [and] cultural heritage risk, as well,” he said.
“We’ve had to factor all of that in.”
They also used artificial intelligence to model how fires would affect the Far South Coast when influenced by different factors.
The resulting Bush Fire Risk Management Plan has four objectives – reducing fire ignitions by humans (be they lit accidentally or by arson), managing fuel loads, increasing community resilience to bushfires and planning how to contain fires.
The Black Summer bushfires devastated people, landscapes and animals on the NSW South Coast. Photo: Kim Treasure.
Also, the draft plan identifies 12 focus areas the Far South Coast BFMC plans to target.
“We live in a very bushfire prone landscape and [those are] the areas that we’re going to focus on to mitigate bushfire risk,” Mr Anderson said.
The suggestions for these focus areas include promoting the uptake of bushfire survival plans by residents, using prescribed burns where appropriate and familiarising local NSW RFS brigades with the landscape.
Mr Anderson said it was “the more the merrier”, with people from across the Far South Coast encouraged to submit their thoughts.
“The more feedback we get – [and] the more consultation – the better plan we’re ultimately going to get,” he said.
“Everyone’s going to have different opinions and we’ll collate all that feedback. We’ll go back to a meeting with the committee and review every bit of feedback we receive.”
If adopted, the Bush Fire Risk Management Plan will be reviewed every five years.
However, residents of the region and visitors alike are encouraged to make sure they’re prepared for a bushfire.
“We can never shy away from individuals doing their own planning and doing their own bushfire survival plan,” he said.
“This [the plan] can’t take away from each individual doing their own preparation.”
People can see the draft plan at the following locations:
- Narooma Library, Field Street, Narooma
- Moruya Library, Vulcan Street, Moruya
- Batemans Bay Library, Hanging Rock Place, Batemans Bay
- Bega Library, Zingel Place, Bega
- Bermagui Library, 3-5 Bunga Street, Bermagui
- Tura Beach Library, 15 Tura Beach Drive, Tura Beach
- Eden Library, 27 Mitchell Street, Eden.
Alternatively, people can email [email protected] or give feedback through an online form.
The draft Far South Coast Bush Fire Risk Management Plan will be on public exhibition until 5 pm on 31 January.
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