Appendix B - Bushfire Hazard Assessment

2.0     BUSHFIRE HAZARD ASSESSMENT
2.1     STATE ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY
2.1.1   General
The Noosa Plan 2020 requires a site-specific bushfire hazard assessment to be undertaken when a
development site is located within a mapped Bushfire Hazard Area.

The State government have described the methodology used to prepare the SPP mapping in the following
publications:
     Natural Hazards, Risk and Resilience –– Bushfire State Planning Policy – state interest guidance
       material (The Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, 2019)
     Bushfire Resilient Communities. Technical Reference Guide for the State Planning Policy State
       Interest ‘Natural Hazards, Risk and Resilience - Bushfire’ (Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
       (QFES), 2019)

QFES, 2019 states that although state-wide bushfire prone area mapping is regularly updated, land use
and vegetation cover (key contributors to bushfire hazard) are subject to change, particularly regarding
the extent of hazardous vegetation. Accordingly, the first step of a bushfire hazard assessment is to
undertake a reliability assessment to determine whether the site’s observed characteristics are consistent
with the inputs used to create the mapping and the mapping outputs. A reliability assessment is therefore
undertaken for the site and all land within 150 metres of the proposed development.

The preparation of a Local Hazard Area Map has been undertaken for the site in accordance with the
methodology described in the above referenced documents. The input parameters used to determine the
bushfire hazard acting on the site are detailed in the sections below.

2.1.2   Vegetation Hazard Classes
Fuel loads need to be determined when preparing a bushfire hazard assessment. The QFES refers to the
process for identifying, classifying and mapping vegetation hazard classes as a Vegetation Hazard Class
Assessment. In accordance with the methodology outlined in Section 6 of the Bushfire Resilient
Communities (QFES, 2019), the following Vegetation Hazard Classes (VHC) were identified within the
assessment area (which includes a 150m buffer surrounding the proposed build location):
     VHC 8.1 – Wet Eucalypt Tall Open Forest – which is attributed a combined surface/near-surface
        fuel of 31t/ha and a total potential fuel load of 35t/ha (non-remnant)
     VHC 40.4 – Continuous low grass or tree cover – which is attributed a combined surface/near-
        surface fuel of 4.5t/ha and a total potential fuel load of 5t/ha

2.1.3 Maximum Landscape Slope
The slope of the land is a major determinant of fire behaviour. Fire burns faster as it travels up a slope,
via the preheating of unburnt fuels ahead of the fire, increasing the rate of spread and fireline intensity.
Conversely, fires move more slowly as they travel downslope. Fireline intensity (kW/m) is a function of



NOVEMBER 2022                           BUSHFIRE HAZARD ASSESSMENT                                  Page: 10
                                    157 LAWNVILLE ROAD, BLAK MOUNTAIN