THE use of planned burns as a hazard reduction method has come under fire from the Victorian Inspector-General for Emergency Management.
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A review by IGEM has recommended dumping the existing program of 5 per cent burning of public land every year in favour of a new risk reduction focused system.
The Andrews government will now consider the report over the coming months, with Environment Minister Lisa Neville saying Labor's approach to fuel management would focus on how it could best protect communities.
The primary aim of any burning-off strategy remains to protect life and property.
More than 125 submissions were received as part of the review, with most favouring dumping the 5 per cent target.
Critics of the current regime say that the 5 per cent target was seeing vast tracts of land burned that posed no risk and was of little use.
So far in 2014-15, Victoria has burnt more than 80 per cent of its planned target of 275,000 hectares.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning regularly conducts planned burns to reduce the risk of out of control fires endangering life, property or the environment.
The Victorian National Parks Association fire spokesman Phil Ingamells said he supported the proposed risk reduction system.
If we just burn land to meet a target it does not meet the interests of Victoria.
- Craig Lapsley
“Currently our remote areas are being burnt at a rate that is putting many native plants and animals at risk, for little benefit to public safety,” he said.
“Land managers have been forced to burn remote areas such as the Mallee in attempts to reach the 5 per cent target. Birds like the rare Mallee Emu Wren and the remarkable Mallee Fowl are now in trouble.
“The Victorian Government should accept this recommendation as a sensible and strategic approach. We can then move on to a risk-based approach for fire management that is more transparent, more efficient and more equitable than the current system.
“A change in policy will give Victorian land managers the opportunity to practice a more effective risk-based approach, allowing increased emphasis on public safety measures such as boosting our capability for rapid attack to extinguish bushfires, and encouraging more bushfire shelters."
Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said the review was timely.
"If we just burn land to meet a target it does not meet the interests of Victoria," Mr Lapsley said.
He also said fuel reduction burns were just one tool in mitigating fire risk.
Under the plan the department has proposed "major bushfires mitigated" as the form of the risk reduction performance target for the Bushfire Fuel Management Program.