Fern Tree Bushfire Risk

The proposed fuel break extension works are currently open for public comment using the Your Say Hobart website.  Once comments have been received the proposed works and comments will be incorporated into a report to the Parks and Recreation Committee of Council.  The final report will be provided to full Council in December.

The proposed fuel break extension program has been presented to the Wellington Park Trust and detailed plans will be provided to the Trust to seek approvals for works within Wellington Park.  A process for selection of a contractor to undertake all approved works will be completed in December/January.

It is anticipated that on ground works will begin in February/ March after the Christmas school holidays and peak visitor period to avoid traffic congestion and recreational users in the area.  Those works that have been approved will be completed before April 2019.

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The current Fire Management Plan for Wellington Park does not identify any proposed fuel management behind the western most properties in Curtis Avenue.  However the City of Hobart has developed a new layer of proposed fuel breaks on this boundary which is based on the advice from the Tasmania Fire Service.  Public consultation is currently underway regarding this proposal which will need to be incorporated into the revision of the Wellington Park Fire Management Strategy.

The specific works in Curtis Road include a new fuel break around the reservoir and a new fuel break behind no’s 18 and 20.  The Tasmania Fuel Break Guidelines do not prescribe a fuel break behind the properties between 6 and 16 Curtis Road and therefore no fuel break is proposed in that area.  This assessment arises because the offset from bushland to the existing asset is sufficient for the fuel break to be wholly contained within the private property allotment. There is no requirement for additional clearing of the public land adjoining the NW property boundary to achieve the clearances recommended in the guidelines.

Landholders are advised to consider their bushfire survival plan and consider the proximity of bushland to the house by referring to the Tasmania Fire Service Fuel Break Guidelines.  The most important action that can be taken to protect a house is to reduce the fuel closest to the asset in order to reduce radiant heat and direct flame impingement during a bushfire.

The development of the master plan for the Fern Tree Park Visitor Node is well progressed and final consultation will soon commence.  A development application will then be submitted and will need to be approved before work can begin.  It is anticipated that works would begin in late 2018.  The replacement of the BBQ's will be undertaken as part of that redevelopment.

The City of Hobart includes the current Australian Standard (AS3959) for building in bushfire prone areas in any new development application.  This requires a Bushfire Hazard Assessment undertaken by a qualified assessor prior to development application to determine a Bushfire Attack Level and ensure that the appropriate level of risk of bushfire is considered in the development or building proposal.  A Bushfire Prone Are is defined by the City of Hobart by applying principles provided by the Tasmania Fire Service and utilises slope, aspect, vegetation type and predicted fire front impact.  The process will dictate minimum standards for building design and siting for prospective builders to improve bushfire survivability.  The AS 3959 was developed in 199 and subsequent revisions in November 2009 and November 2011 incorporated new research and lessons learnt from major incidents.

The provision of power to existing houses and developments falls within the responsibility of the landholder or TasNetworks depending on the connection.  TasNetworks describe the standards they apply and the work they undertake to mitigate the risk of bushfire arising from power lines.  Some examples of this work include the clearing under and around power lines and the use of aerial bundled cables in tall forest where the removal of trees would be prohibitive. A good source of information for landholders and residents can be found on the TasNetworks site at https://www.tasnetworks.com.au/safety/safety-campaigns/safe-growing-near-powerlines/. 

The individual Community Bushfire Protection Plans for communities in Tasmania are available on the TFS website and the plans identify Neighbourhood Safer Places where available and also identifies escape routes (http://www.fire.tas.gov.au/Show?pageId=communityProtectionPlanningProjectPublic).  The City of Hobart undertakes regular inspections of these routes to ensure that the roadside vegetation is safe in the case of a storm or bushfire and trims or removes trees that do not appear sound.  This has been recently undertaken on Strickland Drive and further work is proposed on other key routes near Fern Tree such as Huon Road.  On the day when an incident arises the exact choice of route will depend on where the fire develops and what route is safest.

The presence of individual trees is not in itself a key bushfire threat.  The assessment of bushfire risk and the threat to the survival of houses from bushfire relates to the type, density and arrangement of the fuel contained within a bushland area and the proximity to the asset.  The TFS referred to the Bushfire Survival Plan as a guide to preparing your property and how to treat the vegetation to reduce the risk.  This is a useful reference and is available on the TFS website.  Trees, especially gum barked Eucalypts are often retained in fuel breaks to help slow the wind and to trap embers that might arise from a bushfire in the vicinity.  However heavy understory and continuous elevated fuel is removed to ensure that any fire front is unable to climb into the canopy or produce excessive flame length that might generate radiation heat sufficient to damage or destroy a nearby property.

However if a tree represents a threat to adjoining property or is diseased or damaged to the extent that it is unstable then the City of Hobart will do arboriculture works on the tree or remove it to address the risk.  Each tree is assessed on its merits in order to retain both the habitat and visual amenity of the roadsides but also to ensure public safety.  If you have a specific concern please contact the City of Hobart on 6238 2711 and we will make a time to inspect the site.

The land you refer to is wholly privately owned and part of a number of large properties in the area bounded by Reid’s Road, Westringia Rd. Menuggana Rd and Summerleas Rd.  The City of Hobart does not hold any land or manage any fire trails in that area so I cannot help with future plans for hazard reduction burn plans or fire trail maintenance plans.

I have forwarded your query to the Fuel Reduction Unit, Tasmania Fire Service and we will post a reply when it is available.  It is worth raising the issue with the local TFS Brigade who can work with landholders to undertake hazard reduction on private property as a joint operation if the landholders wish to undertake such works.