Page 3815 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 2011
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estate. Given the government knew that wood stockpiles were a fire risk, was a genuine risk management plan in place and was it adhered to?
I think it is prudent for this place to follow up on the issues I have raised over the last year or two and to receive an update. I think it is reasonable for the government to list the dates that fuel assessments were undertaken and what the advice was. I think it is reasonable for members of this place to see the risk management plans that were in place and whether these have changed given the fire which has recently occurred. I am not asking for analysis or interpretation, so tabling the documents in the first sitting day in September is achievable. I believe all these requests are achievable and reasonable and I urge all in this place to support this motion.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (5.41): I thank Mr Coe for bringing forward this motion today. At approximately 9 am on Saturday, 20 August the ACT Fire Brigade responded to a large fire at the Parkwood recycling depot in west Belconnen. The fire was in an outdoor storage area containing timber, logs, pallets and mulch. The premises are isolated from adjoining recycling premises and the area of the fire has been isolated by a containment break from adjoining similar storage areas.
The operational plan is to have the fire extinguished by today, Wednesday, 24 August, with finalisation of clean-up and handover by Friday. The fire on Saturday, while attracting attention, behaved as expected and did not pose any threat to the residents of Belconnen. I would like to take this opportunity to commend all Emergency Services personnel who have worked tirelessly to contain the fire and to ensure that there was no risk to life or suburban properties.
The response to the fires has been on a whole-of-government level, with personnel from the ACT Fire Brigade, the ACT Rural Fire Service, State Emergency Service, ESA risk and planning and ACT Policing responding to the call for assistance. I can assure you, Madam Deputy Speaker, that the government continues to identify, assess, prioritise and mitigate fire risk in both residential and commercial areas in the territory.
The ACT Fire Brigade has worked closely with, and will continue to do so, the ACT Property Group, ACT NoWaste and the Environment Protection Authority to implement risk management strategies and work with lease and licence holders to manage the input, throughput and output of waste and to minimise fire risk at the Parkwood estate.
The ACT Fire Brigade was notified of particular risks at the site. Once notified of a particular risk, the ACT Fire Brigade will always make an assessment under the provisions identified in the Emergencies Act 2004. The following considerations are taken into account when inspecting premises: first of all, the premises themselves; anything at the premises; the lack of or inadequacy of fire prevention measures or fire safety systems on or in relation to the premises; the use to which the premises are or are likely to be put; and the number of people likely to be at the premises at any time.
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