Sanity - and fire safety !

This weeks rain has finally snuffed out the bushfires that have ravaged the Blue Mountains and destroyed over two hundreds homes, with many more damaged.   Once again there will be memories of the Rural Fire Service appearing on television, imploring people to clear away inflammable material near their homes - and the threat of draconian fines from local councils for people who complied.

There are laws in place that require  council permission for any sort of vegetation cleanup, and that includes the removal of dead Lantana after council's own spraying programmes.  Tree preservation orders make it near impossible to remove dangerous trees and the bureaucracy has it all tied up in red tape.

At the height of the fires, people taking the law into their own hands and clearing away shrubbery near their homes were receiving letters from council threatening million dollar fines and demanding that they cease this effort.

Sanity is now prevailing and new laws are being drafted to apply to high risk areas of the Blue Mountains, Wyong and Port Stephens, all of which have a long history of bushfire danger.  The right to clear away fire risks will be returned to home owners, and the Rural Fire Service will gain the decision power of where and when to implement their risk reduction programmes.

It will be within the owners right to remove trees within ten metres of their homes, and to clear shrubs within a fifty metre radius.   In addition, the Rural Fire Service will have the power to order this work to be done if it is necessary to assist their fire control plans.

There will be howls of rage from the Greenie elements who place human life and home safety a long way behind nature preservation, but this legislation is long overdue.   Ever tightening laws have tied the hands of homeowners - and the need to get permission from a host of government agencies has resulted in most hazard reduction burns being reduced.

We live in a fire prone country and besides the destruction of property, fires have been the cause of heavy loss of life.   It is time that our laws assist homeowners in making their property safe, rather than ensuring that the fire fighting services that swing into action are hampered by flammable material kept in place by the legal system.

This law change needs to be implemented immediately.   We have a long fire season ahead of us - and swift action can reduce the risk !