Appendix C - Bushfire Hazard Assessment and Management Plan

4.0       BUSHFIRE RISK ASSESSMENT
4.1       GENERAL

A bushfire risk assessment for the proposed development has been prepared in general accordance with
the SPP Bushfire (2019) and AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018 – Risk Management Methodology.
The bushfire risk assessment details the likelihood that the proposed development area will be exposed
to radiant heat impact from the confirmed Very High Potential Bushfire Intensity areas depicted on the
Local Hazard Map presented as Figure 3.
According to AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018, a ‘hazard’ is defined as a source of potential harm or a situation
with a potential to cause loss, whereas a ‘risk’ is the chance of something happening that will have an
impact on objectives measured in terms of consequences and likelihood. The SPP Bushfire (2019) refers
to ‘acceptable risk’, ‘tolerable risk’, and ‘intolerable risk’ which are defined below.
         Acceptable risk
A risk that, following an understanding of the likelihood and consequences, is sufficiently low to require
no new treatments or actions to reduce risk further. Individuals and society can live with this risk without
feeling the necessity to reduce the risks any further.
         Tolerable risk
A risk that, following an understanding of the likelihood and consequences, is low enough to allow the
exposure to continue, and at the same time high enough to require new treatments or actions to reduce
risk. Society can live with this risk but believe that as much as is reasonably practical should be done to
reduce the risks further.
         Intolerable risk
A risk that, following an understanding of the likelihood and consequences, is so high that it requires
actions to avoid or reduce the risk. Individuals and society will not accept this risk and measures are to be
put in place to reduce risks to at least a tolerable level.
AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018 defines ‘Likelihood’ as the chance that something might happen. Likelihood can
be defined, determined, or measured objectively or subjectively and can be expressed either qualitatively
or quantitatively (using mathematics). The following ‘likelihood’ categories for the probability of the
assessed bushfire attack mechanisms impacting the assessment area have been adopted within this
assessment:
         Likely - Will probably occur
         Unlikely - Could occur but doubtful
The determination of whether a bushfire event is likely or unlikely to impact the site has been based on
the relative position of hazardous vegetation to the site. The typical fire season in Southeast Queensland
peaks between September and November. During the fire season, hot gusty westerly winds of over
30km/h can be expected, with relative humidity falling below 15%. Typical seasonal fire winds within
south-east Queensland originate from the north-west to west to south-west. Where hazardous vegetation
is located upwind of the site under dominant seasonal fire winds, the site is considered to be exposed to
a likely probability of impact. Where hazardous vegetation is located downwind of the site under typical
seasonal fire winds, the site is deemed to be exposed to an unlikely probability of impact.



JULY 2022                       BUSHFIRE HAZARD ASSESSMENT & MANAGEMENT PLAN                         Page: 16
                                            296 KIDD ROAD, POMONA