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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3613 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

designed to reduce fire risk to the community and to enhance our capacity to respond to similar emergencies. Recognising the need to act before the beginning of the 2003-2004 season, a program of accelerated fuel reduction works is under way across the ACT on government managed land with planning provided in the 2003-2004 budget.

An important feature of the program is the physical removal of trees and shrubs from areas of Canberra Nature Park, which constitute a higher fire danger because of their proximity to residential areas. This will create an effective fire management buffer zone behind residences and provide better access for fire fighting.

A report was commissioned and recently received on the treatment of fire damaged plantations from DSB Landscape Architects. This report, which I will table at the conclusion of this answer, as requested by Ms Tucker, finds that fire damaged blue gums are generally either dead or unlikely to fully recover. The plantations will present an escalating bushfire danger problem over the next few years. Based on this report and fire advice, the government accepts that the removal is the best course of action.

The report notes that the locally occurring species the plantations should be retained as they are likely to fully recover. The report provides advice on rehabilitation of areas from which significant numbers of trees are removed and which lack naturally occurring local species.

Advice was also sought from John Nicholson of Community Safety Services, who is providing input to the Urban Edge Review. This is the report that, once again, Ms Tucker referred to yesterday and which I will table at the conclusion of this answer.

The advice from Mr Nicholson focuses on the fire behaviour of blue gums in these locations, knowing that many have high ground fuel loads and suspended bark. This material has a high potential to convert to firebrands or embers. For the information of members, I will just quote from that part of Mr Nicholson's report on the blue gums at Oakey Hill. Mr Nicholson says this:

I reiterate my expression of anxiety over the fuel load under many of the blue gums, given their close proximity to dwellings and strong likelihood that in the event of wildfire occurring in this area under the influence of strong wind from the relevant direction, heavy firebrand or ember attack on those dwellings should be expected. Also, high intensity fires burning under the "ribbon bark"eucalypts could be expected to ignite "ribbons"suspended up through the trees, thereby increasing the firebrand or ember load on the adjoining properties.

Firebrand or ember attack into adjoining residential allotments is a cause for concern, given the poor standard of vegetation management, accumulation of combustible "rubbish"in many of those allotments and dilapidated timber boundary fences. Also, many of the dwellings and sheds are not constructed to withstand firebrand or ember attack. Fires caused by firebrands or embers landing in these allotments could probably start fires that would lead to the loss of dwellings.

That is the advice on which Environment ACT responded. While all fire fuel close to houses is being evaluated for the fire risk it poses, blue gums and pines are receiving particular attention because they are known to pose a higher threat than locally endemic trees such as the smooth bark gums. Where introduced trees are present but pose little

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