With the bushfire season fast approaching, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) has partnered with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the University of Melbourne to develop a guide to help people understand the bushfire risk to their homes and surrounds.
Leader of the Bushfire Adaptation team at the CSIRO, Justin Leonard said the online Bushfire Best Practice Guide provided a range of advice on building and retrofitting to improve the bushfire resilience of Victorian homes and gardens.
“It can be difficult to navigate the many building and planning regulations which show Victorians how to improve the design of their homes to withstand the dangers of bushfire,” Mr Leonard said.
“This Guide consolidates existing advice and provides tailored, site-specific solutions for a range of requirements,” he said.
“The Guide applies bushfire risk management advice for residential building and landscape design.”
Mr Leonard said it could be difficult for homeowners to work out the best ways to build while navigating building and planning regulations that focused on minimum requirements.
“Often bushfire building design and landscaping are considered separately when, in fact, there are so many opportunities to have them complement each other,” he said.
The Team Leader said the Guide would help homeowners understand that bushfires were a natural part of the Australian landscape; how bushfires interacted with homes and gardens; how to use principles of design to reduce bushfire risks; how to improve on existing bushfire regulatory controls; and how to build or retrofit a house or garden to reduce risk.
Mr Leonard said the Guide had been designed for Victorians, but could also be used by homeowners in other Australian States and Territories.
The online Bushfire Best Practice Guide can be viewed on the CSIRO’s website at this PS News link.
