The Importance of Following Appropriate Laws when Clearing Firebreaks

 Firebreaks represent fundamental tools for reducing the intensity of bushfires and protecting properties from damage. However, as creating firebreaks involves burning vegetation, they are bound up with legal complexities.

In 2017, a Queensland landholder was fined almost $1 million for establishing firebreaks that were deemed too wide under Queensland’s Vegetation Management Act. The fine was the largest in the history of the legislation and serves as a warning to residents in the area.

So, if you’re a landowner hoping to understand and control the risk of fires to your property, how should you go about creating firebreaks as and when necessary?

What is a firebreak?

Firstly, it is important to understand the purpose of a firebreak and its applications. Generally speaking, a firebreak involves burning an area of native vegetation to reduce the fuel load available to a fire. Firebreaks can also be created via scraping, ploughing, or hand-clearing. In theory, this should reduce the intensity of a fire, making it easier to control and less likely to damage property or pose a danger to health and wellbeing.

Most firebreaks are established near the boundaries of a domestic property or to protect farming communities, industrial sites, public roads, railway lines, or rural areas containing rare or precious vegetation. Of course, the fact that creating firebreaks involves destroying plant life means it is bound up with ethical problems.

Legislators in Queensland have introduced rules surrounding the size of potential firebreaks to contain their impact on natural habitats and plant life while allowing property owners and communities to protect themselves.

What are the rules surrounding the clearing of vegetation?

The rules surrounding the creation of firebreaks have been subject to frequent changes over the past few years, so it is important to keep up to date with complex Queensland laws.

Recent amendments state that you do not require a permit to clear native vegetation if the work is intended to protect infrastructure (excluding roads, fences, or vehicular tracks) where the firebreak’s maximum width is 1.5 times the height of the tallest vegetation adjacent to the structure, or 20m, depending on which measurement is wider. You may also establish a necessary fire management line whereby the maximum width of the clearing is 10m.

The bottom line: If in doubt, seek legal advice

Rely on Mike Barlow Earthmoving for your firebreak needs