nsp’s under scrutiny at the royal commission
On Monday I was a witness at the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. I was there to give evidence about the process of designating Neighbourhood Safer Places in the Shire of Yarra Ranges.
I have followed the process of NSPs very closely and been directly involved with the development of the Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan and onsite inspections of potential NSPs.
I was pleased to be able to provide the Commissioners with a perspective as a local Dandenong Ranges resident as well as a shire councillor. I felt it was important for Commissioners to understand the on the ground workings and efforts being undertaken by the Shire of Yarra Ranges. I would be more than happy to speak to the commission again.
The Shire of Yarra Ranges is currently in the process of assessing additional sites to designate as NSPs and will hold a special meeting of council to discuss those sites on Tuesday 22nd Dec.
If you’re interested in reading what I said to the Commission click here, my statement starts on page 114.
Labels: bushfire, royal commission, samantha dunn, yarra ranges
posted by Samantha Dunn @ 4:32 PM
2 Comments:
Complicated stuff alrighty, but still we need as many NSP's (by whatever name)as we can get.
By what I'm hearing, council is very much on the nose by it's chain dragging here.
If vegetation has to go, then for gods sake have the good sense to do it.
Regards Ross McLeod
I hardly think being the second council in Victoria to formally designate NSPs is dragging the chain. At the time of the Royal Commission hearing it was only Yarra Ranges and Mooroobool who had formally designated NSPs.
The designation of NSPs is not just about vegetation, think about access and egress, availability 24/7, ease of entry and suitability of congregation, ownership and permission, traffic management, defendable space, defendability of buildings, signage, maintainability, the views of CFA Region 13 (beyond the radiant heat assessment), DHS and Vic Police as well as local CFA Captains.
I have attended every site assessment of potential NSPs in Yarra Ranges with the Vic Police, CFA and Shire Officers.Yes it is a complicated matter and it is too simplistic to think it is only about vegetation. No dragging the chain here.
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