Across June and July Mount Alexander Shire Council delivered community consultation on behalf of the Municipal Fire Management Planning Committee (MFMPC) to explore community support for the June 2021 Fuel and Bushfire Risk Report.

More than 120 people visit the Shape page to learn about the project, and we received over 50 submissions through drop-in sessions, surveys and phone calls.

Key feedback included:

• The use of four separate municipal plans makes it difficult to understand or find balance in addressing life safety, property safety and environmental concerns.
• Council, the Department of Transport (DoT) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) should work together to address this issue before any meaningful roadside fuel reduction can occur
• The term 'Road Reserves' needed to be clarified. It was discussed and accepted as 'from boundary fence or property line on one side of the road to the boundary fence or property line on the other side of the road.' Any future MFMPC reporting will use the agreed term and definition.

*Image credit: drop-in session images from the Chewton Chat

Next steps:

As a result of this feedback, the MFMPC will accept the Roadside Fuel and Bushfire Risk Report (June 2021) and close the Strategic Roadside Fuel Reduction Project.

A new project will be established to:

1. Consolidate the four roadside plans into a Road Reserve Management Plan that is consistent with the Country Fire Authority and Department of Transport guidelines in production
2. We will then partner with the Municipal Association of Victoria, the Country Fire Authority and Department of Transport as Road Reserve managers, to negotiate with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning to gain Secretary approval under the relevant planning provisions.