Bushfire overlay maps updated

The state government has updated its planning rules for houses potentiallu at extreme fire risk, with the 229,000 properties now in the Bushfire Management Overlay(BMO) including thousands of houses in the Surf Coast Shire and Colac Otway Shire.

The BMO mapping came into effect in planning schemes on October 3, with the total number of properties now covered by the overlay nearly doubling from about 122,000 to 230,000.

In the Surf Coast Shire, 6,864 properties were added to the BMO – mostly in coastal towns almost tripling to 9,376, with 14 properties removed from the BMO.

Last week, the Colac Otway Shire announced about 450 properties in that municipality had been added to the BMO, mainly located in Skenes Creek, Marengo, Gerangamete, Barwon Downs and Murroon. Another 400 properties across the municipality have been removed.

New development and uses in the BMO may require a planning permit to ensure bushfire hazards such as vegetation, slope and site access are assessed, and that bushfire protectin measures are in place to manage risk.

The mapping criteria were recommended by the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, but some landowners have found the BMO prevents them from gaining a planning permit for their blocks and have claimed house prices are being forced up as a result.

Both the Surf Coast Shire and Colac Otway Shire stressed that the updates to the BMO were applied by the state government, not by the local government.

“Changes to the BMO maps were implemented on October 3 and while the council is not in a position to influence the outcome of the mapping changes, we do want to ensure our community is informed,” Colac Otway mayor Chris Potter said.

A Surf Coast Shire spokesperson said that according to the Deparment of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, bushfire construction standards already applied to bushfire prone areas under the Building Act and regulations.

“The bushfire protection measures required under the planning system are unlikely to substantially increase development costs.”

For more information, head to the website at planning.vic.gove.au/bmo.