Living With the Bush

We have received reports of people taking advantage of the 10/30 regulation, and some of these involve what might be kindly described as an overzealous application of its scope. In some cases, this could be from a lack of clarity around the regulation - and given the literature the government produced to explain its ruling, we are not surprised. However, there have been some who have been waiting for an excuse to improve their view, or to undertake works that are obviously not for bushfire preparedness. We want to hear about these cases.

So, if you become aware of a situation where the regulations have been abused, or have resulted in perverse outcomes, such as increased erosion or landslip risk, please let us know.

All information supplied will be kept private and will not be published on this site or anywhere else. The intention is to obtain some sense of the degree to which the rules are being abused, as well as the scale of the damage caused. The only aspect that would be published is the overall picture provided by the reports. Cross- referencing these reports with satellite imagery will also inform this analysis.

Alternatively, if you think someone has crossed the line, you can report the matter to your local council's planning enforcement officers, who will then investigate the matter.

We do not advocate anyone specifically going out of their way to do any of this - and certainly do not want people putting themselves in harm’s way. If you choose to take photos of something you have seen, remember, that while the law allows you to take photos of private property from either your land or public land, the person who owns the property might not be overly impressed. Please take into consideration matters of privacy and good neighbourly relations when deciding what to do.