Council upholds safety

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
YARRA Ranges Council has upheld that “public safety will always take precedence over vegetation” as it moved to clarify the draft Flora and Fauna Management Strategy.
The strategy will discourage people from planting species considered environmental weeds, but people can still plant roses and vegetables in their gardens.
The strategy will not become law and cannot override any state laws or council policies, but will be used to encourage the community of the benefits of protecting and enhancing the shire’s natural assets.
The council has released a fact sheet to give residents a clear view of its intentions, while extending the submission date again to 4 April to give residents more time to understand and respond to the document.
The extension will breathe a sigh of relief for community groups who have labelled the document as confusing and demanded its explanation.
Biodiversity conservation co-ordinator Marty White said although the Bushfire Royal Commission was not mentioned in the text, it remained consistent with the recommendations and other state and council laws dealing specifically with emergency management issues.
“I’ve looked at the recommendations and checked to see this document is still consistent but there are still interpretations and we need to articulate better the decisions in this document with those other documents such as the Fire Management plan,” he said.
Mr White said despite the conflict between fire prevention activities and flora and fauna values, residents were required to follow the State Government’s 10/30 rule that allows the clearing of vegetation, including trees, within 10 metres of a dwelling, or vegetation only within 30 metres of a dwelling.
He said the document would be used for environmental education, but could shape how councillors will make decisions when managing land.
“With noise disturbance, for example, an application to construct a carwash next to a Powerful Owl breeding area may not be supported by council,” he said.
“There are also many actions for how we (the council) manage our own land.”
Mr White said strategy points such as tree removal and landscape guidelines related to council planning policies already in place.
As for flammability of exotic versus indigenous vegetation, Mr White said there was not a lot of strong science one way or another.
“Some natives are worse than others, some exotics are worse but science has not yet backed it up,” he said.
The fact sheet that will be available to residents highlights that council policies already exist on the subject of planting for new developments, where existing landscape guidelines promote the planting of indigenous vegetation within the environmental context of a site.
The strategy also recognises that dead trees should be protected where possible, and it will not prevent the removal of trees where deemed dangerous.
Out of 120 inspections, 100 trees have been assessed dangerous over the past 12 months and permitted to be removed without a permit.
The council is encouraging residents to share their feedback by making a submission. All submissions will be reviewed when preparing the final document.