Ryrie Ward councillor Jeanette McRae (second from left) spoke with residents Tony Inglese, Michael Nardella, Chris Dove, Nick and Rhonda Van den Bogaard after the meeting.
By Kath Gannaway
The late addition of Yarra Glen to the original list of 21 meetings came only after Seymour MP Ben Hardman and Yarra Ranges Councillor Jeanette McRae demanded a voice for the residents of Steels Creek where 11 people died, Dixons Creek, Yarra Glen, Toolangi, Chum Creek and Healesville.
“Tonight is your opportunity to put your views on the final recommendations of the Royal Commission to the government,” Mr Masters said.
In particular, he said, Premier John Brumby was interested in six recommendations on which he wanted community consultation.
The government had in its interim response given in-principle support for 59 of the 67 recommendations.
Working in groups, people were asked to give their views on refuges, local government particularly in bushfire and emergency planning, evacuations, powerlines, fuel reduction and acquisitions – the retreat and resettlement strategy.
Just how the government will interpret the views put forward was not made clear.
What did become clear very quickly was that the absence of detail meant there were more questions than answers on some recommendations.
On acquisitions: who decides what areas are bushfire prone? Is it only the areas in the already 52 townships identified? Is the government going to ensure those areas don’t become overgrown and neglected? What will happen to places like Kinglake if people move out? What will it mean for service provision if there are smaller populations? How will the government set the valuations? Where will people go when there is already a housing shortage?
On powerlines: How much will it cost? What are the benefits of underground lines compared with aerial bundle cabling? Could there be spin-off benefits such as less power outages and no power poles for young people to crash into? What are the cost benefits there?
On evacuations: When would people be evacuated? Is it possible to evacuate without causing road jams? Where would they go? Who would be responsible for contacting everyone?
A snapshot of views from one group included keeping the 10/30 vegetation clearance and extending it to new planning applications to make properties more defendable. This would then make property by-back less relevant, as would subsidising increased building costs in flame zones.
Also, restrictions on burning off hindered the ability to protect property, fuel reduction needed to be done in consultation with the local community to avoid damage to food and wine crops, the army should be called in to manage emergency evacuations, more permanent and trained people are needed for fuel reduction burns and bring back emergency warning sirens.
Cr McRae said in terms of community representation alone, with the short notice given, the consultation process was flawed.
A show of hands indicated only 10 people from the Healesville/Chum Creek community.
“We have had 18 months of the Royal Commission where people had the opportunity to put in a submission and given there is a need for the State Government to move quickly on the recommendations they need to act responsibly in the best interest of communities and that means making the hard decisions,” she said.
“This is not a robust process; you have a very limited audience here.
“There are 13,000 people in these areas and 90-plus people turned out. If it is consultation, what of the others who would like the opportunity to provide input?”
