Lead
Frankston City Council
Working group
City of Whittlesea; City of Casey; City of Manningham; Mornington Peninsula Shire; Cardinia Shire Council; Municipal Association of Victoria; CFA
Context
The Victorian Government introduced the bushfire planning controls known as the 10/30 and 10/50 rule as part of its commitment to implementing all recommendations of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. The municipality-wide application of the vegetation clearance exemptions of Clause 52.12 Bushfire Protection Exemptions of the Victorian Planning Provisions (formally Clause 52.48) apply in several councils and shires including Frankton, Cardinia, Hume, Hobsons Bay, Casey, Manningham, Mitchell, Melton, Mornington Peninsula and Wyndham.
On the 5th August 2020, Amendment VC176 was approved by the Minister for Planning, amending Clause 52.12 (Bushfire Protection: Exemptions) of the Victoria Planning Provisions to align the 10/30 and fence line vegetation exemptions with the Bushfire Prone Area map across all Victorian councils, making administrative updates and further clarifying the exemptions for dwellings and defendable space under the Bushfire Management Overlay. The result of this amendment is beneficial to several Councils as it reduces the area of land previously impacted by the blanket bushfire exemptions and aligns the exemptions to apply within areas recognised as having a bushfire risk. However, other Councils will now see the introduction of bushfire exemptions when they were previously did not apply e.g. Kingston, Knox and Greater Dandenong.
