The scientific world is predicting hotter and more fire dangerous summers and before September ended Sydney had a day of 35 degrees that broke records. Homeowners have long complained that when they try and meet the recommendations of the fire service and clear away combustibles around their homes they are stymied by a plethora of rules from local councils and the various ecology groups that restrict their right to trim or remove trees. Everything seems to revolve around a long and costly application process - and in the vast majority of cases - this ends with a refusal.
The government heard their pleas - and acted. On August 1 the 10/50 rule became law. It freed owners living 350 metres from bushfire prone land from the need to get permission to clear trees 10 metres from homes and vegetation growing within 50 metres. Fire safety was now within the grasp of homeowners and it was hoped that this would be a less stressful fire season.
Pity the professionals who are tasked with framing laws and who must study the legal effect that may result in"unintended consequences ". There are always opportunists waiting in the wings and many have sharp legal eyes to discover where a law change offers "opportunity "!
So it was with some residents of Sydney's north shore and the northern beaches. This is where Sydney Real Estate has it's greatest value and one of the factors that creates that value is what is termed "view ". A home that has an unrestricted panorama of the coastline and ocean will bring a better price than an identical property where this view is screened by neighbouring trees. In the past, this had led to tree poisoning and illegal pruning and clearing - to improve the view and property value.
This law change was seized upon and mercilessly applied. Owners used the law to chop down trees and trim vegetation that had little to do with a fire risk, but at lot to do with improving the value of their property. Ecologists were aghast at the sheer speed with which these actions happened and they brought heated protests from neighbours and ecologists.
The state government moved quickly to amend the law - and now it only applies to those living 150 metres from category 2 vegetation. The distance has been drastically reduced and the much more dangerous category 1 have been excluded, and returned to the need for a clearing permit.
This will clip the wings of those seeking to improve their view, but the damage has already been done and vast swathes of the northern beaches are far less "green "than their previous appearance. Perhaps the mistake was to promote change by way of a general "catch all " law that could be interpreted in many ways.
It might have been a better idea to empower the fire services with the decision to issue clearing permits. They are the people with the greatest fire safety knowledge - and putting that decision in their hands removes the issues of politics, personal opinion, peer pressure and often empire building that haunt getting a decision out of councils or statuary authorities.
Nothing could be more simple than a clearing request resulting in an inspection by trained fire people who know from experience how to reduce risk - and who have the authority to issue a permit that can instantly be applied - without delay by appeals or interference from other sources.
What is called the KISS formula applies. Keep it simple - stupid !
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