The City of Mitcham has taken out the South Australian 2006 Australian Safer Communities Award for innovation and best practice in community safety for its Mitcham Bushfire Risk Management Plan. The awards are organised annually by Emergency Management Australia in conjunction with the States and Territories.
Mitcham’s Bushfire Risk Management Plan was prepared to protect life and reduce the impact of bushfires on property and environment within the City. The plan was prepared by Earth Tech Engineering Pty Ltd and developed in association with the City of Mitcham and the Mitcham District Bushfire Prevention Committee with funding from the Federal and State Governments through the Natural Disaster Mitigation Program.
Council’s Manager Environmental Services, Stephen Saffin, said Council now has a much better understanding of the risks associated with bushfire.
“We have improved mapping and documentation, which will allow Council to meet its responsibilities in a more targeted and prioritised manner,” he said.
Bushfire risk was highlighted as the greatest concern for Mitcham householders in a survey undertaken as part of the City’s Emergency Risk Management (CERM) Project in 2003. Nestled in the Mount Lofty ranges, Mitcham has 15,000 households with 26,000 residents located in its Fire Prone Area, which is arguably one of the most vulnerable fire risk areas in Australia.
The Bushfire Management Plan is designed to assist with the preparation of Council’s Bushfire Prevention Plan by providing an objective assessment of bushfire threat within the City and the management of information in response to this.
In developing the plan, three main stages were used in association with GIS technology:
- threat calculation – risk identification and analysis
- threat assessment – risk evaluation
- risk treatment – management response.
“The GIS technology enabled the integration of numerous spatial datasets and facilitated the interpretation of results using a range of maps,” Stephen Saffin said. “Six Bushfire Management Areas were defined and the plan includes descriptions of these areas, an overview of issues and the key strategic actions required.
“A calendarised Bushfire Management Action Plan was also developed to assist in the revision of the Bushfire Prevention Plan. The action plan outlines tasks required for bushfire risk management under the headings of education/awareness, consultation, policy and planning, private land management and public land management. The timing, responsible organisation/officer, target audience and relative priority for each bushfire management task are also indicated.”
The Bushfire Risk Management Plan improves dialogue between key stakeholders, Government agencies, the community and the Country Fire Service.
Stephen Saffin said neighbouring Councils have been provided with a full copy of the plan as a reference.
“All neighbouring Councils in the Mt Lofty Ranges have shown interest in developing similar plans to build up current bushfire risk data and maps,” he said. “Collectively this would help provide a greater level of awareness for the Councils and emergency service agencies, and would help to identify priority works and programs that lead to safer communities.”
Council has received further funding through the Natural Disaster Mitigation Program to build on the Risk Management Plan by developing an IT (Self Assessment) and Community Engagement Package. Council will be undertaking this work in 2007.
A copy of the Mitcham Bushfire Risk Management Plan is available on Council’s website at www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au under Environment / Fire Prevention / Bushfire Risk Management Plan.
