Bushfire Risk Reduction Notice

Category 1 - All lots 1,100m² or less

1. Grasses to be maintained – slashed/mowed to less than 10cm in height and removed from the land and disposed of in an appropriate manner;
2. Flammable material to be managed or moved 5 metres away from buildings;
3. Gutters to be kept free of dead matter such as twigs, leaves and bark.

Category 1 Brochure

Category 2 - All lots greater than 1,100m² but less than 5ha

1. Grasses to be maintained – slashed/mowed/grazed to less than 10cm in height unless actively grazed. If land is actively grazed, grasses shall be maintained to less than 20cm in height.
2. Category 2 properties with a habitable building:
   1. Establish and maintain a Managed Fuel Area;
   2. Driveway/access way – If the habitable building is, at its closest point, more than 20 metres from the carriageway of a public or private road, the driveway/accessway must be installed and maintained as defined in this Notice;
   3. Turnaround area - If the habitable building is, at its closest point, more than 50 metres from the point of access from the carriageway of a public or private road, a turnaround area is to be installed and maintained.

Category 2 Brochure

Category 3 - All lots 5ha or greater

1. Grasses to be maintained – slashed/mowed to less than 10cm in height unless actively grazed or farmed;
2. Firebreak – A 3-metre-wide firebreak shall be maintained as close as practicable within 100m of all property boundaries. Where land is actively grazed, or maintained to less than 10cm in height the firebreak may be reduced to 2 metres width. Where the land area exceeds 120 hectares, an additional firebreak must divide land into areas of not more than 120 hectares with each part completely surrounded by a firebreak within 100m of the boundary of that part;
3. Category 3 properties with a habitable building:
   1. Establish and maintain a Managed Fuel Area;
   2. Driveway/access way – If the habitable building is, at its closest point, more than 20 metres from the carriageway of a public or private road, the driveway/accessway must be installed and maintained as defined in this Notice;
   3. Turnaround area - If the habitable building is, at its closest point, more than 50 metres from the point of access from the carriageway of a public or private road, a turnaround area is to be installed and maintained.

Category 3 Brochure

Definitions

Authorised officer means a person appointed by the City as a Bush Fire Control Officer pursuant to the powers conferred in s38 of the Bush fires Act 1954

Bushfire Prone Area (BPA) means all land designated within the Map of Bushfire Prone areas as identified by the Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner under s18P of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1998.

Current Bushfire Management Plan a plan prepared specifically for a property or subdivision as a condition of subdivision or development approval and endorsed by the Western Australian Planning Commission or the City after 7 December 2015.

Driveway/access way means the access route from a public or private road to a habitable building. With:

• a3-metre-wide trafficable surface.
• vegetation maintained to provide a 0.5m clearance each side of the trafficable surface; however isolated trees and significant plants need not be removed.
• a 4-metre vertical clearance is to be installed and maintained.

Firebreak means a 3m wide area of land cleared and maintained totally clear of all vegetation material (living or dead), with a trafficable surface over which any overhanging vegetation is no less than 4m above ground level, for the primary purpose of access for firefighting appliances.

Flammable material means accumulated fuel such as dry grass, leaf litter, twigs, branches, trash, bush, dead trees, firewood, stored fuels and scrub that can be easily ignited or is likely to catch fire and burn. It includes any other thing deemed by an Authorised Officer to be likely to catch fire but excludes living standing trees, growing bushes and plants in gardens and/or lawn areas under cultivation.

Habitable building means any single or two-family residence, garage, building, structure, trailer, vehicle or portion thereof where persons dwell, reside, are employed, or congregate and which is occupied in part or whole on a permanent or temporary basis.

Land means freehold land or leasehold Crown land.

Lot means an allotment of freehold land or leasehold Crown land and includes contiguous land parcels in common ownership.

Managed Fuel Area means an area of land within 20 metres of a habitable dwelling from the outermost point of the building wall or to the lot boundary (whichever is smaller). Within the Managed Fuel area:

• Trees must be pruned 2m away from buildings with vertical clearance of 5 metres above the top of the external roof.
• Gutters to be kept free of dead suspended matters such as twigs, leaves, and bark.
• Vegetation must be reticulated and/or maintained or there must be a low fuel understory with no Flammable Material present.
• Flammable material to be managed or moved 5 metres away from buildings.
• Unless Managed Vegetation, available Surface Fine Fuel loads must be reduced and maintained at an average depth of 1cm, by Passive Fuel Reduction methods that do not permanently remove or reduce the quantity or occurrence of the native plants, shrubs, and trees within the subject area.

Managed Vegetation includes actively managed and maintained and/or reticulated low-threat vegetation gardens, orchards, vegetable gardens, living standing trees, growing bushes and plants in gardens and/or lawn areas under cultivation.  

Passive Fuel Reduction means lowering the amount of available fuel that will burn under prevailing conditions by means that will not permanently reduce or modify the structure or life cycle of plant, shrub, scrub, or tree communities within a treated area. This may be achieved by undertaking a cool, controlled burn of an area during cooler, damper months, or by physical removal through raking, pruning, weed management, or by any other method, of built-up leaf litter, dead materials, weeds and slashing long dry grasses without damaging live native plants within the area.

Special Work Order means a property specific notice served by the City on an owner pursuant to Section 33 of the Bush Fires Act 1954, to act as and when specified in the notice with respect to anything which is upon the land, and which in the opinion of the local government or its duly authorised officer, is or is likely to be conducive to the outbreak of a bush fire or the spread or extension of a bush fire.

Surface Fine Fuel means the leaf litter on the ground, including leaves, twigs (up to 6mm in diameter) and bark which is easily scratched away and not starting to decompose.

Trafficable surface a firm and stable surface, unhindered and without any obstruction suitable to support a 4x4 fire appliance.

Turnaround area means an area of trafficable surface that allows a large fire appliance vehicle to turn around. The turnaround area must:

• be kept clear of encroaching vegetation and overhanging branches to a height of 4 metres.
• Be within 30 metre proximity to the habitable building.
• Turn around can be a loop with a minimum 10 metre radius or a trafficable bay sufficient to support a three-point turn by an 8.3m fire appliance.

Variation means an individual specific Firebreak Notice served by the City on an owner under s33(2) of the Bush Fires Act 1954

Video Resources

Keep your grass maintained

Clean out gutters

Vegetation to be actively managed

Trees pruned away from building

Driveway requirements

Turnaround area

Firebreaks

Useful Resources

Bushfire Risk Reduction Notice

Bushfire Risk Reduction Notice Variation Form 2024-25

Category 1 Brochure

Category 2 Brochure

Category 3 Brochure

Council Meeting Minutes - 15 May 2024

Useful Links

Draft Bushfire Risk Reduction Notice Project Page (timelines and previous consultations)

Permits and Burning Information

Bushfire Ready Groups and Volunteers

Harvest and Vehicle Movement Bans

Prepare for a bushfire 

Bushfire Prone Areas

New bushfire policy - State Government media release September 2024

Compliance Inspections

Use the form below to book an inspection with a ranger to review your property’s requirements. Once your form is received by our team, we will be in contact to confirm a day and time with you.

Landowners/occupiers who would like an early inspection by appointment, for reasons including dangerous animals, biosecurity, locked gates, or for an explanation on requirements of the notice, should contact Rangers by 15 October 2024.

Full Name*

* Required Field.

Contact Number

Email Address*

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Property Address

Preferred Inspection Days

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday

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Potential Penalties

People who do not comply with the Notice or a Variation to the Notice may be issued with a modified penalty of $250 or prosecuted with a penalty up to $5,000.

The City of Busselton may also take out required work on the land at the cost of the owner/occupier.

Firebreak Variations

Where there are valid environmental or on-ground considerations that prevent full compliance with the Notice, landowners may apply to the City for a variation. A variation must be lodged in writing on a Bushfire Risk Reduction Notice Variation Form 2024-25. Applications for a variation must be submitted by 15 October each year.

Firebreak Contractors

The City maintains a list of Firebreak Contractors who are commercially available to carry out firebreak compliance works on behalf of property owners. Any such arrangements are a private matter between the property owner and the contractor.

The responsibility for compliance with the annual firebreak notice by the due date rests solely with the owner/occupier of the land regardless of whether or not a contractor has been engaged.