Call for burn offs

By Tania Martin
MEAGHAN Kollmorgen fears Cockatoo will be a death trap this summer.
She believes the State Government and Cardinia Shire Council should be doing more to prepare for the fire season.
Ms Kollmorgen said there had been very little burning off done this spring.
“There has been a bit here and there but nowhere near enough – it’s been very insignificant,” she said.
“I know for a fact that in Western Australia 14 per cent and in the Northern Territory 22 per cent is burnt every year but Victoria is less than one per cent.”
Ms Kollmorgen has lived in the area for more than 11 years and said she hasn’t seen a substantial burn off in that time.
She fears her home would be in the fire path with a number of neighbouring properties posing a real threat.
Ms Kollmorgen said the land behind her property was marked for redevelopment and was partly owned by the council.
She said the land needed to be cleaned up.
“If it was my land I would be told to clean it up.
“I don’t see why it should be different because it’s council land,” she said.
Ms Kollmorgen said even if she was prepared to stay and fight she couldn’t because of the amount of fuel built up in the properties behind her house.
“With what is back there we wouldn’t even be able to stand at our back door if a fire came through,” she said.
“The heat would be that intense.”
Ms Kollmorgen said this was not the first time the land behind hers had been a problem.
“We fought the council six years ago for them to clear some the debris away from out back fence,” she said.
“All they did was come along with a bob cat and moved 22 cubic square metres of rubbish… they didn’t take it away just pushed it away from my fence line.”
Ms Kollmorgen has also questioned why more burning off wasn’t undertaken in winter.
“We had perfect conditions – no rain and it was really still,” she said.
However shire spokesman Paul Dunlop said the council took its fire prevention responsibilities extremely seriously.
He said it was working in partnership with the CFA, police and other agencies to reduce the threat across the shire.
Mr Dunlop said a fire management plan exists for the Garden City Estate which is behind Ms Kollmorgan’s home.
“This includes a buffer zone adjacent to houses in Paternoster Road and along Third Avenue which is regularly maintained,” he said.
Mr Dunlop said fuel reduction burns had been conducted in the area in 2000, 2002, and 2005.
The estate reserve is patrolled by council staff on Total Fire Ban days and there is also a fire access track along Sixth Avenue and Fourth Avenue.
Mr Dunlop said the council was also in the process of a fire slashing prevention program across the shire.
The Mail contacted DSE but was unable to get a response before going to print.