Cockatoo overlooked

By Lilly O’Gorman
COCKATOO may have been one of the towns hardest hit by Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983, but recent State Government maps label some parts of the town as non-bushfire prone.
Cardinia Shire council said residents were “greatly worried” following the introduction of the statewide bushfire-prone area maps.
According to council, the maps show locations like Pakenham as areas at high bushfire risk, but parts of Cockatoo, mainly around First Avenue, are not.
Emergency Management and Community Safety manager at Cardinia Shire Council, Myles O’Reilly said although the mapping related to the building of new property, the way it was perceived by the community was of concern to the council.
“Pakenham is a developed area, so in reality risk from bushfire is not significant,” Mr O’Reilly said.
“As for parts of Cockatoo, it is in the middle of one of the highest bushfire risk areas in the shire. I can understand why some of our residents are greatly worried.”
The council has raised its concerns with the Department of Planning and Community Development.
A spokesman for the Department of Planning said the department was heartened by the correspondence from the council.
“This is possibly the largest mapping exercise ever conducted by the State Government. When you do a map of that size, you are going to have small anomalies,” the spokesman said.
“The modelling was essentially done by the Department of Sustainability and Environment working in conjunction (with departments) right across government. We’re now going through the process of working with councils at local level, so that the maps give the sense of community confidence that we would want.”
The spokesperson said some of the inconsistencies could be put down to certain recommendations from the Bushfires Royal Commission, such as allowing for ember attacks on households.
“Because of the recommendation that allows for ember attacks, one part of a building might be within the area of an ember attack and one part of it might not be. That is the sort of anomaly that might exist,” he said.
“The underlying objective here is to make sure we have a system of mapping that protects Victorians if another Black Saturday event was to occur.”
Mr O’Reilly maintained that the maps had no bearing on the shire’s planning for emergency response.
“I can assure residents that there will be no change to how these areas are serviced during a bushfire or any other emergency situation,” he said.
“Cockatoo and other similar communities are always at the forefront of our mind both here at the council and within our emergency service partners, when it comes to pre-planning for emergencies.”
The spokesman for the Department of Planning said Cardinia Shire Council would receive a response to its submission by the end of the year.
The Bushfire Prone Area Maps identify areas throughout Victoria that are subject to or likely to be subject to bushfires, in response to new building regulations that came into effect on 8 September.