Information Response - Email 1 of 2 MCU16/0153 & REC16/0041

                 RE: Response to Info Request – 215 David Low Way, Peregian Beach


       Item 21
       Prepare a Bushfire Management Plan for the proposed use of the site that addresses
       the requirements of the Noosa Plan Natural Hazards Overlay Code for Bushfire Hazard
       Area. All bushfire management requirements/measures must be wholly contained and
       managed by the proposed development and not rely on or place liability on adjacent
       landholders.

Response
As discussed above, the Bushfire Management Plan (DFS Group 2015) was prepared for the
entire site and included consideration of any future use of the Balance Land for residential
purposes. The BMP included an assessment of compliance with the Overlay Code and suggested
that the proposed development of the site was "generally in accordance" with the code. This
BMP was subsequently approved.

The JWA letter dated 16th December 2017 refers to a cleared 3 m wide maintenance track on
adjacent land to the west (park) contributing to the asset protection zone. An Asset Protection
Zone (APZ) provides a defensive tool to assist in the reduction of potential bushfire impact to
people and property situated in bushfire prone areas by proving separation between assets
(people and property) and hazardous vegetation.

Whilst Council have stated that all bushfire management requirements/measures must be
wholly contained and managed by the proposed development, and that reliance on land
managers outside the development area for reducing bushfire risk must not be a bushfire
response strategy, it is obvious that the cleared 3 m wide maintenance track on adjacent land
to the west would increase the separation distance between the hazardous vegetation and the
proposed development. Provided that the required access track is regularly slashed and the
landscape/vegetated buffer maintained in accordance with the requirements of the approved
BMP, it is considered that the bushfire risk on the site would be maintained at appropriate
levels.


       Item 22
       Prepare a Bushfire Management Plan for the proposed use of the site that addresses
       the latest SPP Fireline Intensity Model (CSIRO) using an FFDI of 48 to derive the
       appropriate bushfire hazard class for the lot.

Response
The Australian Standard AS 3959- 2009 - Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas
defines Fire Danger Index (FDI) as the chance of a fire starting, its rate of spread, its intensity
and the difficulty of its suppression, according to various combinations of air temperature,
relative humidity, wind speed and both the long and short term drought effects. The FDI is an
input utilised in various fire models and fire behaviour equations (e.g. McArthur 1973; Noble
et al. 1980) however the dominant hazardous vegetation adjacent to the site is heath
vegetation and the standard fire behaviour equation (i.e. Catchpole et al. 1998) utilises rate
of spread, average wind speed at 10m above the ground, and average height of classified
vegetation as inputs, rather than the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI).




Ref: AM/Q15012/Lw3                            JWA Pty Ltd                                 2