Draft fans fire debate

THE Shire of Yarra last week agreed to place the draft of a new Open Air Burning Local Law on display after the old law ceased to operate at the end of April.
Under the Local Government Act a local law only has the life span of 10-years and must be revoked by the council and a new one made.
In 2004 a team of shire staff formed to consider the options for replacing the law, and it was considered that a local law controlling open air burning was desirable.
Since then a draft of the proposed new law was referred to fire brigades, the Country Fire Authority, The Department of Sustainability and Environment, Parks Victoria, the Environment Protection Authority, police and Melbourne Water for comment.
The existing law and the draft of the interim one has divided the shire into three areas which are residential bushland which covers the Dandenong Ranges and other townships throughout the shire, urban areas including Lilydale and Mooroolbark and rural which involves the rest of the shire.
The draft outlines that open air burning or the use of an incinerator in the urban area is prohibited without a permit.
It also outlines that residents living in a rural area must have a permit to burn between 31 October and 1 May of the following year, and that a permit was also required for open air burning at any time if the material is more than one cubic metre on a property under a hectare.
Meanwhile in residential bushland areas residents can use an incinerator for 14 days after the end of the fire danger period from 30 September each year from Thursday to Monday between 10am and 6pm. The council will now advertise the draft law in the Government Gazette before calling for submissions from residents.