Rural Firies Fed Up With Bushfire Mitigation Red Tape

Rural fire brigades across Central Queensland are “extremely frustrated” with governmental red tape preventing critical bushfire mitigation from occurring.

Sick and tires of being “stonewalled” by Livingstone Shire Council, some senior personnel are no longer alerting council to fire hazards on council-controlled land.

Livingstone Deputy Mayor Adam Belot has recognised fire mitigation in the region has been fraught with challenges following the 2019 Cobraball bushfire disaster where 15 homes and 41 structures were destroyed.

“So much so that some of the brigades have said ‘stuff it, we’re not going to put any more applications in for burn permits because Livingstone Shire Council is so difficult, and virtually is determining whether things can burn or not"

Frustrations are building as the required protocols for hazard reduction on private land requires the landholder to make their own decisions on the appropriate mitigation strategy and apply for “Permit to Light Fire" before anything can proceed.

Cr Belot, wants to get around the crucial time delays by "giving autonomy to our rural brigade wardens, who are qualified to determine when these burns need to happen”

“I’m going to push as far as I can to see how much we can reduce the authority of the environmental department of council in the permit situation, to place as much autonomy with the rural fire wardens...because they are the ones on the frontline, not the environmental department of council”

On Tuesday an urgent review of Livingstone’s processes and policies in relation to hazard reduction strategies was given the go-ahead by councillors.

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