1. Enhancing Community
Resilience through Appropriate
Planning and Building
Lew Short
Group Manager Community Resilience

2. Market Failures
• property owners will not voluntarily include
appropriate levels of bushfire protection and
survival measures in new buildings in bushfire
prone areas (BPAs).
• Insufficient information, “bounded rationality”
and perception of risk
• Split incentives for developers(ie lowest cost =
> profit)

3. “due to the imperfect responses and a range of market
failures it is unlikely that in the absence of regulation,
householders would voluntarily, or have the knowledge
to, include appropriate levels of bushfire protection and
survival measures in new buildings in BPAs. This is likely
to result in increased risks associated with death,
injuries and damage costs to property.
Therefore, Government intervention is justified on the
grounds that it could deliver a more efficient outcome
for society.”

4. • Redefining from reactive fire fighting role into a community safety focused
organisation that is pro-actively addressing known problems at the
planning and building stages of development.
• Policy and legislation at the planning stage to leverage advantage for fire
fighting (short, medium & long term outlook).
• Ultimately improving the capacity of our community for self reliance –
move from active to passive fire fighting
• And giving fire fighters increased ability to defend life and property
• 85% of house losses are within 100m of the urban bushland interface.
• This is where the planning and development controls focus

5. • Lew (You don’t know about this yet) (about 15
minutes also
• Planning and Building (Particularly for
bushfires)
• Impact on NCC
• Agency involvement
• AFAC structure for dealing with Standards and
Regulations

7. Planning and Building
• At the Zoning/ Planning Stage
– Local Plans: ensure new zonings and land-uses take account of
bushfire protection issues up front
• At the Sub-division
– Clear integration of bushfire issues into planning legislation
– Ensure adequate setbacks, access, water supplies
• At the Building Stage
– Often existing pattern of development
– Ensure building materials meet applicable building standards
– Outcome focussed but must not increase risk, potential for
engineered solutions

9. • Primary role in providing protection to life,
property and the environment from bush
fires
• Legislative controls – Aug 2002
• Improving the capacity of our community
for self reliance – move from active to
passive fire fighting.
• In NSW there are:
– 1.2 million bush fire prone properties;
– 300,000km of urban/bushland interface;
– 20 million Ha of bush fire prone land

10. Type of Development # Assessed
Complying
Development 10
Part 3A 55
Planning Instruments 59
S.100B 1,881
S.79BA 5,245
S.79C 73
SEPP Infrastructure
2007 45
TOTAL 7,368
10

11. Aim and Objectives of PBP
To provide for the protection of human life (including
firefighters) and to minimise impacts on property
from the threat of bush fire, while having due regard
to development potential, on-site amenity and
protection of the environment.

12. 12

13. Bunkers in BFP Areas
• Bunker will not guarantee life safety.
• Many variables
– Distance
– Location
– Construction
– Design
– Services
– Signage