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Volume 33, Wednesday 6 September 2023

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1909

VOL. 115

NO. 33

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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

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PRICE $1.50 INC GST

Retreat revealed

Timber transition

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Bridport wildflower fire fears • “It will go boom” - Bridport resident Ken Terry and his neighbour Bill Goodman, at the Bridport Wildflower Reserve fire break, have serious concerns about its fire risk. BY RACHEL WILLIAMS A significant parcel of Bridport’s Wildflower Reserve was a major fire hazard for nearby residents who are calling for immediate action before it is too late. Walter St resident Ken Terry and his neighbour Bill Goodman have expressed serious concern about the state of the reserve, highlighting large tracts of overgrown bushland including dead trees that they say pose a serious risk to locals. It’s not a new argument for the pair but after 15 years of complaints they are fed up and demanding action before it’s too late. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. You won’t be able to stop a fire,” Mr Goodman said. “A lot of the houses that back onto it are all older houses so there is a lot of timber in them and Bridport water pressure is not

that good.” They said Parks and Wildlife were meant to attend last year but only managed to burn one small section closer to Granite Point before the wind turned. “They gave up and went and they haven’t been back,” Mr Terry said. A Parks and Wildlife spokesman said the Bridport Wildflower Reserve Fire Strategy provided a framework for fire management in the area, based on zones and fuel management strategies. “There have been a number of controlled burns over the years undertaken by PWS within the Bridport Wildflower Reserve and Granite Point Conservation Area,” the spokesman said. “PWS completed a planned burn in Bridport in 2022 and there is another burn planned in the area this spring - weather permitting.

“PWS continually monitors the weather and fuel moistures during the season to determine required objectives.” Mr Terry and Mr Gordon will believe it when they see it. The area adjacent to Mr Terry’s house, which leads to the official walking track as part of the reserve, had been cleared of thick vegetation nine years ago after he threated to claim vacant possession of the site to allay his fire concerns. There is a 15m buffer that Mr Goodman and fellow residents mow to keep growth from spreading too close to the road, but he said that would not be enough to stop a blaze getting to their homes. “Seven or eight years ago all the residents along here got a notice from Parks and Wildlife saying they were going to patch burn sections each year and leave wildlife corridors in between but they haven’t been.”

After a wet winter and with an El Nino event bringing with it the threat of a severe bushfire season, they say Bridport has been neglected. They also claim the fire break in the middle of the reserve (pictured) would be difficult to access in an emergency. “You wouldn’t want to try to get along the fire break with your 4wd – it’s pretty overgrown you wouldn’t get a vehicle through it,” Mr Goodman said. “They have to do it now otherwise it will be too late. Mr Terry added: “It’s still damp under foot now because we have had so much rain in the last month and a half and if they leave it another month it will be too windy and dangerous and all this growth will be as dry as dry and it will go ‘boom’.” No date was given for the proposed burn from Parks and Wildlife.

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