Living With the Bush

About the Coalition
Read Charter
Join Us
Take Action

Member Login

Recent News

ECOS: Linking land clearing to drought and climate change
Discretion urged for fire season tree clearing - Tolhurst warns
Council defiant over clearing rights
Council seeks change to tree clearing laws

Letters

Fix death traps
llogical reaction
School clearing another example of Brumby's ill conceived "quick fix" solutions.
Vegetation: the new battleground

Media Watch

Crikey: Bushfire battler story is more complex than it looks
A telling story: The Sheahan bushfire story
Contestable reporting of the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission

Royal Commission

Justin Leonard CSIRO on building standards and bushfires

A point you make in relation to the siting and how siting and building surrounds can influence wind exposure in a building is that the presence of trees is a protective feature in this instance...

Home

Contact

The best way to get in touch with the Coalition is by using the contact form below. Or....

Media Enquiries/Spokesperson: Louis Delacretaz 0407 300 188

General Enquiries: Julie Buxton 0413 317 230

Your name: *

Your e-mail address: *

Subject: *

Category: *

Message: *

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Math question: * 1 + 0 =

Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.

Disclaimer Privacy

The Living with the Bush Coalition is made up of Victorian residents who support the Coalitions Charter. The Living with the Bush Coalition is unaffiliated with any political party/group or religious organisation.

Government Watch

Now clearing schools!
10/30 gazetted
Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges Regional Strategy Plan Amendment Bulldozed Through Parliament
Recent Changes to Planning Schemes

Extracts

Bulldozer Solution only compounds problem

The research also has implications for bushfire-prone areas in Victoria, where there have been calls to clear large areas of bushland after this year’s Black Saturday bushfires.

‘The “bulldozer solution” of clearing large tracts of bush to reduce the risk of bushfires will only compound the problem – by clearing the land, you get a hotter land surface, so bushfires will be more severe,’ said Dr McAlpine.

‘Rather, we need to restore and actively manage native forests and woodlands for the multiple ecosystem services they can provide.’

Old Growth less fire prone

"I have lived in the Gippsland forests for 30 years, been a volunteer fire fighter for 20 years. I have noticed the same type of fire behaviour. The old growth enclosed canopy forests that have not been subjected to manipulation, tracks, burning, logging – and are more fire-proof. The dense understory creates a damp micro climate and slows down the ferocity of the winds."

Veg Removal wouldn't have made any difference to Quarry Rd Fire

I fought the Quarry rd fire. It *started* in Quarry rd, and regardless of how properties are cleared, it would not have been stopped without the Heli [helicopter].

Volunteer of CFA Posted at 5:30 PM Today on Herald Sun Website

Vegetation value on roadsides

Kevin Tolhurst, a fire ecologist at the University of Melbourne, says roadsides sometimes actually provide a good wind break and can actually slow fires down.

"We need to be managing those roadsides but the concentration on woody material in the roadsides is probably a little bit of a furphy, but we should be maintaining and managing those," he said.

"And one of the things we need to be doing is keeping weeds out of them, because weeds are more flammable than the native vegetation that we have."

1 tree on 21 acres yet house still burns

Mr Wiltshire says he and his wife had been meticulous in their preparations to fight the bushfires and there was only one tree on their 21.5 acre property.

Horsham lost 7 houses, golf course, club rooms

Some paddocks that burnt had no grass, the sheep manure carried the fire through.