Fire hearings

By Kath Gannaway
A LACK of communication and restrictions on vegetation clearance were prominent issues raised at the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission Community Consultation held at Yarra Glen yesterday (Monday).
Residents from across the shire – from Warburton to Steels Creek – took the opportunity to have input into the Royal Commission led by The Honourable Bernard Teague.
The Yarra Glen meeting is one of 23 to be held across the bushfire affected areas in a bid to gather information on the fires and identify key issues for further research or investigation by the Royal Commission.
Commissioner Teague and fellow commissioners Ronald McLeod and Susan Pascoe were present and discussion coming out of the 25-minute round-table group discussions was filmed.
Henk and Alana Vrolijks lost their house in Chum Creek. As they waited with their neighbours Richard and Wai-Lin Galbraith to go into the afternoon session they told the Mail the lack of communication and warning on the day was a major issue.
“We were on the computer and watching the Murrindindi fires and there was no mention of the Yarra Glen fires,” Mr Vrolijks said.
Mrs Galbraith said their ability to properly clear their property was an issue she planned to raise.
“The council uses too much power over people’s properties and their ability to clear them,” she said.
Yarra Glen resident Bill Boyd is also captain of the local CFA.
He said a lack of communication, a lack of education on fire-fighting for the general public, feelings of abandonment with the focus so prominently on Marysville and Kinglake, frustration at the amount of red tape needed to get answers were among issues raised within his group.
Mr Boyd said he felt the consultation process was worthwhile but would wait and see how the messages delivered on the day would be read as the investigation went on.
“I don’t know how Commissioner Teague is going to get to the nuts and bolts of the people who were at the coalface during the fires,” he said.
Wesburn residents Bev and Fred Cerveri, whose property abuts Department of Sustainability and Environment land, said road-side clearing, wrong and inadequate communication on Black Saturday, and the length of time it takes DSE to obtain shire permits to do fuel reduction burns on their adjoining land were issues they raised.
Integration of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and the CFA was another issue and naming of Kilmore and Murrindindi fires gave no indication that they affected Yarra Glen, Chum Creek or Steels Creek.
Commission spokeswoman Anna Freeman said the consultation meetings were part of the process of enabling the commission to get a better sense of what the pressing issues are in the local communities impacted by the bushfires.
The Royal Commission is required to deliver an interim report by 17 August.
A date of 31 July 2010 has been set for the final report.
For details about how to make a written submission to the Royal Commission visit www.royalcommission.vic.gov.au.