Hundreds sign up

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
But the council says the current planning scheme needs to continue to improve and has so far allowed the shire to grow while still protecting its environmental values.
The residents want to urge the Baillieu Government to update state planning policy following the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission to allow residents the continued right to clear their properties for fire protection.
Warburton resident Janet Sowden said the new government needed to be pressured to implement some of the VBRC recommendations, including changing the planning laws to give explicit priority to human life and allow the 10/30 right to continue effectively.
She also said the council’s flora and fauna guidelines were “completely contrary” to the BRC recommendation relating to prevention, where “The Commission strongly discourages DSE and councils from implementing Clause 52.17 of the Victoria Planning Provisions or ‘Native Vegetation Management – a framework for action’ so as to limit the ability of landowners to plant fire-resistant vegetation in their minimum defendable space or to require them to plant native vegetation within that space”.
Yarra Ranges Council planning director Andrew Paxton said the guidelines would help interpret the planning laws, as many of its principles were already encapsulated in the planning scheme and state legislation.
“We have some of the most significant vegetation, stunning landscapes, and threatened species, and we need to question how we value and help protect them, and help the community understand what we’re trying to achieve,” he said.
“If clause 53 is taken away we need to look at what is put in its place to continue to protect the landscape.”
The petition, started by a group of community members in the Upper Yarra, and now circulating in Healesville, Mount Evelyn, Ferny Creek and Yarra Glen, will be presented to the Legislative Assembly by Gembrook MP Brad Battin on 1 March.
Mr Paxton reiterated that feedback on the draft Flora and Fauna Strategy, available for comment on until 4 April, and even the writing of documents so they could be understood better, was welcomed and appreciated.
Mayor Terry Avery said the council had the largest emergency management team of any Victorian council and had undertaken comprehensive reviews of its Municipal Emergency Management Plan, fire slashing program and Fire Management Plan.
Footnote: Janet Sowden is no relation to Mail journalist Mara Pattison-Sowden.