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QFES meetings
Attached to the e-mail Iluka Covenant Application to clear vegetation 20 Serenity Close.msg.
MINUTES OF A MEETING HELD WITH QUEENSLAND FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES (QFES) ON SITE AT SETTLERS COVE FRIDAY 21ST NOVEMBER 2014 AT 09.00 HRS PRESENT MR ARCHIE ANDREWS ACTING INSPECTOR QUEENSLAND FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES. IAN CROW "ELANDRA' 6 SERENITY CLOSE ANNETTE BROOKES & “ CLIVE BROWN TLUKA' 10 SERENITY CLOSE AGENDA The purpose of the meeting was to seek advice from QFES as part of the review of the fire management plan and ensure appropriate fire and safety measures are in place and and what issues need to be addressed regarding overall management of the covenant area. The fire management plan is the same for all the developments within the Settler's Cove Development and seperate covenants have been signed by each Body Corporate dealing with management of their covenant area. The advice given by QFES was as follows: 1. There is significant concern about the slope of the covenant area and if a fire started from the bottom of The Sound and moved through the canopy there could be significant damage to the buildings as well as significant damage to the flora and fauna which may take significant time to regenerate . This could also lead to soil erosion issues if a large amount of vegetaion is destroyed. The acting inspector advised that a fire travelling up a slope of this level may not be able to be effectively managed given the resources available in the area. Generally in difficult times if one brigade is busy so are the others in looking after their own areas. Also access is limited and fire brigade appliances would have to be parked some distance from any hazard area and hoses would have to be run for long distances. There is substantial fire fuel around and there should be a burn off during winter, starting from the top and moving slowly down the hill. This should lead to a more healthy environment for the protecton of the area. This should be done by the Rural Fire Brigade during late Autumn/Winter months. It should be done by dividing the 300/400 meter frontage into 6 areas and to do 2 at a time in order to protect wild life and let vegetation regrow. The advice indicated that we should look at the recommendations of the review into the Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday fires. The outcome of these was that if the steps had been taken before the fire the devastation would most likely have been less severe in terms of nature and human life.
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2. It was agreed that an expert from the Rural Fire Service should provide an estimate of the fuel load within the covenant area. This is tentatively arranged for Tuesday 25" November. 3. There are a number of trees in the Covenant area that are close to the boundary and inside the fuel control zones ( FCZ ) that: In a storm could fall and damage the building. Ina fire could cause significant fire damage to the building. The advice was to remove an overhanging branch from a large tree situated at the Eastern end of 'Elandra' within the FCZ. The many regrown Eucalypts within the FCZ at ‘Iluka’ should be reconsidred for removal as soon as possible. The inspector stressed that the decision to allow lopping or removal of trees had to be made by Council as QFES acted purely in an advisory capacity. As a generality there needs to be better management practices with these types of areas which has been highlighted by the recent SBS programmes on Australian fire management practices, and more locally, the recent bush fire at Sunrise Beach THE MEETING CLOSED AT 10.30AM A subsequent meeting was held on 28" November at 08.30 with Mr Andrews (QFES) and Mr Ken Stockton of the Rural Fire Brigade. Mr Stockton agreed with the findings of the previous inspection and estimated the fuel loads across the covenant areas to be 15T to 20T per hectare. He agreed that a controlled burn under Rural Fire Brigade control should be undertaken.