Annual Fire Break Notice
Notice of Owners and/or Occupiers of Land within the Shire of Koorda.
In pursuance of the powers conferred in Section 33 of the Bush Fires Act, 1954, notice is hereby given to all owners and/or occupiers of land within the Shire of Koorda that Council has adopted the following requirements to prevent the outbreak or spread of a bush fire within the Shire.
All owners and/or occupiers of land are required to carry out fire prevention work in accordance with this notice on land owned or occupied by you on or before the 31st day of October 2023 or within fourteen days of the date of you becoming the owner or occupier should this be after the 31st day of October 2023. All work required by this Notice shall be maintained until the 15th day of March 2024.
“Firebreak” means an area of ground, of a specified width that is kept and maintained ‘reasonably’ clear of all material (living or dead) by scarifying, cultivating, ploughing or other means, and includes the pruning and removal of any living or dead trees, scrub or other material that overhang the cleared firebreak area to a vertical height of 4.5 metres from the ground.
In this instance, ‘reasonably’ is intended to mean “best endeavour”, acknowledging that it is impracticable to clear and maintain a firebreak ‘totally clear’ of inflammable material for the period of this notice.
“Flammable Material” means material that can be easily ignited, i.e. – dead or dry grass, leaves, timber, paper, plastic and other material or things deemed by an authorised officer to be capable of combustion.
Rural Land
- On all land owned or occupied which is not within a townsite subdivision, firebreaks not less than three (3) metres wide must be cleared inside and along the external boundary of all land.
- For the purpose of this part, all Road Reserves are to be taken as boundaries.
- The maximum area allowed with a single perimeter firebreak must not exceed 400 hectares.
- Where buildings or hay stacks are situated on the property, additional firebreaks not less than three (3) metres in width must be provided within ten (10) metres of the perimeter of suchbuildings or hay stacks in such manner as to completely encircle the buildings or hay stacks.
Townsite Land
- All lots within townsites are required to be completely cleared of all debris of any inflammable nature and maintained free of such material.
If it is considered impractical for any reason to clear firebreaks or remove flammable materials from the land as required by this notice, a written application for a variation may be made to the Chief Executive Officer, to reach him not less than two weeks prior to the date by which the firebreak(s), are to be cleared.
No such application will be considered unless it bears the signature of the Fire Control Officer for the area in which the property is situated signifying that the Officer’s agreement to the variation applied for.
Persons who fail to comply with the requirements of this Order may be issued with an infringement notice or prosecuted with a penalty up to $5,000.00 through the courts as per Section 33 (3) of the Act.
Additionally, Council may carry out the required work at a cost to the owner or occupier as per Sections 33 (4) & 33 (5) of the 1954 Bush Fires Act.
Restricted-Permit Required: 19 September 2023 to 31 October 2023
Prohibited-No Burning: 1 November 2023 to 31 January 2024
Restricted-Permit Required: 1 February 2024 to 15 March 2024
Landholders should note that as the reasonable installation and maintenance of fire breaks is a local Council requirement., any landholder not meeting this obligation may breach their insurance provisions.
Darren Simmons
Chief Executive Officer