People need a break

By Melissa Meehan
UNDER threat and unhappy. More than 450 Warburton residents have signed a petition urging the Shire of Yarra Ranges to “put people before trees”.
Dawn Cantwell has had enough, and has urged others living in the Upper Yarra to support her cause.
“We need to let the shire know that we want to be able to legally clear our land,” she said.
Yesterday (Monday), Warburton and surrounds were under threat and Ms Cantwell said she would have more piece of mind if people were allowed to create firebreaks around their homes.
“I have had people lining up in the street wanting to sign the petition,” she said.
“So far we have 450 signatures, and that’s without picking up all of the forms.”
At the moment, Ms Cantwell said, many residents were clearing firebreaks illegally.
“They just want to be able to do it legally, without worrying that they will be dobbed in by a neighbour,” she said.
“It is all about fire safety – especially in the aftermath of Black Saturday.”
While she doesn’t necessarily believe that the petition will make the shire change the laws for removing trees, Ms Cantwell said it was an opportunity to let the council know their thoughts.
Healesville landowner Ray Donkin mirrored Ms Cantwell’s sentiments.
“The destruction of Black Saturday really makes you think of the management,” he said.
“There was such a build-up of fuel in some areas. If that was removed there might only be a few small fires rather than a huge fire ball every 40 years.”
In a statement released by Shire of Yarra Ranges, spokeswoman Tracey Varley said that the council’s approach had always been to “strike a common-sense balance between protecting public safety” while “preserving one of the state’s most environmentally sensitive areas”.
She said the council supported people’s ability to clean up around their properties for fire prevention purposes.
“This is done through a range of measures including opportunities to burn off for fuel reduction purposes throughout much of the year, fortnightly green waste collections and twice-yearly bundled green waste collections.”
A new burning off local law was introduced last year that increased the number of days residents were able to burn off.
The shire also has one of the largest emergency management teams of local governments in Victoria.
More than 1000km of roadside reserves are slashed annually and about 56,000 property inspections are undertaken each year to check for fire hazards.