2020-08-17 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                      17 AUGUST 2020




                       Image: An example of Bushfire Interface Zone mapping.
      The green areas are the 100m Bushfire Interface Zone in relation to vegetation and buildings.
Working in partnership
Council staff work closely with other land managers when it comes to fire mitigation, especially the
Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service (QPWS). Council staff met with representatives of both local
QPWS regions in early March and discussed, in detail, proposed control burns for the Noosa area
for 2020 and 2021. This is an opportunity to coordinate programs, identify areas to work together
and to support each other with resources where possible.
Council, together with QPWS, Queensland Fire & Emergency Services, other State agencies
(DNRME and DTMR) and land managers (Seqwater, HQ Plantations), are represented on the Area
Fire Management Group (AFMG). The AFMG have developed the annual 2020 Noosa Bushfire
Risk Mitigation Plan, which is part of the state-wide Operation Coolburn Program. This program
will be reviewed in August with all representatives coming back together for a pre-fire season
workshop to review the success of the program so far, and preparedness for the coming months
as we move out of fire mitigation season and into fire management season.
Council controlled burns are currently performed by contractors, with a contract already in place
for the whole 2020/21 program. There are as many as seven planned burns scheduled for the
year, but the ability to deliver on these will depend on weather. This has already proven challenging
with regular rain in July making it difficult to conduct burns before it gets too risky to do so in 2020.
A controlled burn was completed at the Cooloothin Creek Nature Reserve in early May, and a burn
at the Noosa Landfill site has been scheduled but has had to be cancelled due to it being too wet,
however it is still hoped that this burn will occur in August. The table below shows the highest
priority burns for 2020 and 2021.


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