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Attachment D - Bushfire Statement
Attached to the e-mail MCU18/0009 - Representations to conditions of approval.
Rob Friend & Associates Pty Ltd
Environmental Land Management Consultants
RF&A
Office – Unit 4 / 3 Heaslop St
Woolloongabba
Postal - 28 Merton Road
Woolloongabba Qld. 4102
p - (07) 3891 9131
f - (07) 3393 0388
m - 0419-667346
e - [email protected]
w – www.robfriend.com
Your reference: -- ABN 83 097 068 114
Our reference: -- RF17-020 ACN 097 068 114
Date: - 7 September 2018
Nadine Gorton
Senior Town Planner
Martoo consulting Pty Ltd
PO Box 1684
Noosa Heads. Qld 4567
Dear Nadine,
Re: - Bushfire Hazard Assessment– 186 Cooroy-Noosa Road, Tewantin
Further to recent correspondence from Noosa Council with regard to the development Application over the above
property and with respect to the bushfire hazards, please find our response to that recent correspondence below.
Noosa Council has asked for the Fire Consultant (Rob Friend & Associates Pty ltd) to provide a letter addressing the
proposed layout and use.
Bushfire hazard mapping
1. The Noosa Plan maps the area as being mostly within a potential impact buffer with a small slither of the site
mapped as a very high potential bushfire intensity.
2. A review of the site provided information that confirms the bushfire hazard mapping over the adjacent Tewantin
national park, however the slither within the Carramar Care site can be effectively described as being within the
Potential impact buffer.
3. The vegetation within the Lomandra Place Bushfire Reserve was also assessed and based on the dominance
of the environmental weed species Singapore daisy, Sphagneticola trilobata over much of the reserve, this
effectively makes the reserve an area of low bushfire hazard. Additionally, under the bushfire hazard
methodology developed by the CSIRO the reserve is approximately 60 metres in width and vegetated corridor
of less than 100 metres in width can effectively be mapped as the dominant abutting hazard and this is low.
4. Therefore, based on this assessment and while there is an area within the site and the adjacent Lomandra
Place Bushland Reserve which could become involved in a bushfire, the area of this vegetation is such that
that fire would not have sufficient fuel to grow to such an intensity and rate of spread that it would reach the
threshold of 4,000 kW/m. This fireline intensity value is the threshold between an area being described as a
low bushfire hazard and a medium bushfire hazard area.
Site layout and use
As indicated in the development application and the final layout plans, the proposed development is to construct
additional residential quarter for dementia patients to provide much need additional bed for person suffering from
dementia within the Noosa area.
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The site plans (Drawing MCU 03 B, Middap Architecture Pty Ltd, dated Aug 2018) provides for 4 new “villas” located
within the Carramar Care land located at 186 Noosa-Cooroy Road, Tewantin.
As stated above and in the Bushfire Hazard Assessment Report (Rob Friend & Associates, September 2018), the
adjacent Lomandra Place Bushfire Reserve can be effectively described as an area of Low bushfire hazard, however,
the native vegetation within and adjacent to the land could become involved a vegetation fire and as such measures
have been proposed to ensure that the buildings and residents can be protected from a low intensity fire.
As a bushfire mitigation strategy, the following measures were designed into the layout planning process: -
The clearing and management of understorey and groundcover vegetation above the Q100 flood line.
The location of a general setback that is equivalent to a setback that would be appropriate for a building that
would be exposed to a Radiant heat flux of 19 kW/m2. An assessment of the minimal radiant heat flux setback
distances was undertaken and is provided in the Bushfire Hazard Assessment Report using Method 2 as
provided by the Australian Standard AS3959-2009.
Using Method 2, along with the relevant input data, a minimal distance to achieve a Radiance heat flux of 19
kW/m2 was 14.1 metres. this setback was established to provide additional protection measures for the
proposed structures, however, they are not required to be setback any distances based on the planning
outcome as the adjacent vegetation is deemed to be an area of Low bushfire hazard.
It is noted that all of the proposed residential villas with the exception of Villa 3 are located outside of this
nominal 14.1 metre setback.
Villa 3 extends into the setback area to an extent that it would be required, to respond to a Radiant heat flux of
19 kW/m2.
Additional measures which have been introduced into this proposal is to construct the structures to a standard
that they would have had to be constructed if the adjacent area was defined as a Bushfire Prone Area. That is
Villa 1 would be constructed to a BAL-12.5, Villa 2 to a BAL-19, Villa 3 to a BAL-29 and Villa 4 to a BAL-12.5.
this building specification is to take into consideration the nature of the residents who would be living in the
facility.
Other measures which are already in place within the Carramar Care facility include an emergency
Management Plan which provides for a number of emergency procedures should an emergency such as a
bushfire involve the surrounding vegetation, and these include; -
o Gathering of residents into a central location in preparedness of a necessary evacuation
o Evacuating residents to another part of the facility which is secure, able to provide food and water as
well as medical care and located away from any potential bushfire threat whether that be from the
Tewantin National park or the low intensity fire within the Lomandra Place Bushland Reserve.
In summary, it is my professional opinion that the measures proposed with regard to these additional residential villas are
over specified for the risk. However, the nature of the future residents of the facility, require that additional measures are
implemented to ensure risk from bushfire is mitigated to an extent which is acceptable in this location.
Yours faithfully,
Rob Friend
Director
Rob Friend & Associates Pty Ltd