The document summarizes NSW's approach to planning and building in bush fire prone areas. It notes the challenges of increasing urban development meeting rural land, the need to protect life and property from bushfires, and reliance on volunteers for firefighting. NSW introduced legislative changes in 2002 to better integrate bushfire protection into planning. This includes requiring development on bush fire prone land to comply with Planning for Bush Fire Protection guidelines. The RFS assesses development applications to ensure bushfire risk is properly considered and defendable space, access, water, and building design support firefighter safety and home survival.

1. NSW Approach to Planning &
Building in Bush Fire Prone
Areas
Lew Short
Group Manager Community Resilience
NSW Rural Fire Service

2. Modern Constraints to Bush
Fire Management
• Huge urban interface
• Past planning decisions
• Bush fire mitigation increasingly reliant on volunteers
• Need to recognise land management objectives
• Absolute need to protect fire fighters
• Abdication of landholder responsibilities

3. s. 100B Bush Fire Prone
Mapping Streamlined
assessment for
Part 3A
HR's
s. 79BA
Development
Construction and Assessment &
Design
Planning Env Assessment
Code REFs
Access
BPM’s in
APZ
combination
s. 66
Water Bush Fire Management
Complaints
Emergency s. 74
Management
Arrangements
Hazrd reduction &
Management
Landscaping
Response Hotspots
Engagement
S. 52 Ops & Risk BFMC Coordinated Fire Public Liaison
Plans Fighting
Web based info
Community Liaison
s. 44's
BFCC

5. Fires in the NSW Landscape
Area burnt (hectares)
1993/4 1997/8 2001/2 2002/3 2003/4 2004/5 2005/6 2007/08 2008/09
800,000 500,000 754,000 1,465,000 57,600 16,309 151,412 86,000 366,159
Residential Homes Lost
93/94 97/98 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 08/09
206 10 121 86 5 1 13 2 24

6. Leveraging Advantage for Fire fighting
• Pro-actively addressing known problems at the planning and building
stages of development.
• Water
• Access
• Separation
• Landscaping
• Improving the capacity of our community for self reliance
– active  passive firefighting
• Giving fire fighters increased ability to defend life and property
• Passive protection
• Built into the fabric of our landscape

7. In 2002 NSW Government & RFS introduced and
implemented sweeping legislative change to mitigate the
impact of bush fires on the community

8. • 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

9. 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.

10. 10

11. 11

12. 12

13. 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

14. Role of RFS in the DA process
• Assess DA’s on bush fire prone land referred from Council against
the requirements of Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2006.
• 79BA of the EP&A Act  Advice to Council.
• 100B of the RF Act  Bush Fire Safety Authority to Council.
• Provide comments regarding:
– LEP & DCP
– Masterplans
– Major Projects / State Significant
– SEPP Infrastructure
– Nation Building & Jobs Plan

15. Bush Fire Prone Land Mapping
• Section 146 of the EP&A Act 1979 -
Councils to map bush fire prone land.
• Amendments can be made anytime.
• Development on “BF Prone Land” must
consider PBP
• Trigger mechanism

16. Integrated Development
• Section 91A of EP&A Act
• BFSA s.100B Rural Fires Act 1997 for residential subdivision
or special fire protection purpose developments on bush fire
prone land.
• Referral to RFS Headquarters for the issue of a Bush Fire
Safety Authority
• Ensures that bush fire is accounted for early in the
development process – the aim is to meet acceptable
solutions

19. Specific Objectives for s.79BA
• ensure that the bush fire risk to adjoining lands is not
increased.
• provide a minimum defendable space.
• provide better bush fire outcomes
• ensure the footprint of the proposed building does not
extend beyond the existing building lines.
• not result in an increased bush fire management and
maintenance responsibility on adjoining land owners.
• ensure building design and construction enhance the
chances of occupant and building survival.

20. Bush Fire Protection Measures in Combination
Appropriate combinations
1. Geographic location;
2. Site circumstances; and
3. Nature of the proposed use.
 Residential and rural-residential subdivision
 Special Fire Protection Purposes
 Other “development” (including “infill”).

22. PBP, BCA and AS3959 – What’s the
Relationship?
• The BCA is a performance based code that contains
both performance requirements and deemed-to-
satisfy provisions.
• PBP is written along the same lines of the BCA
whereby it has both performance requirements and
deemed-to-satisfy / acceptable solutions.
• The BCA nominates PBP as the NSW variation and
requires compliance with this document and AS3959
for development on designated bush fire prone land.
• AS3959 is accepted by PBP as the deemed-to-satisfy
construction standard for buildings in designated
bush fire prone areas.

24. Compliance with the Performance
Criteria of PBP
• Submissions proposing variations to acceptable
solutions must provide substantiated evidence that
the specific objectives and performance criteria
can be met.
• Case by case assessment based on the merits of
the proposal.

25. Key base-line positions
1. 29 kWm2 – Res. subdivision
• Building integrity
2. 10 kWm2 – SFPP
• Life safety
3. Tanker access

26. Performance is not…

27. Planning for Bush Fire Protection – Site Assessment
• SpecificFDI’s across the State to reflect local
variations
• APZ’s based on specific calculations
• Exceptional circumstances identified for APZs
• Vegetation classes based on Keith, Ocean Shores
to Desert Dunes

30. Flame Zone Developments
• The distance from a bush fire at which
there is significant potential for
sustained flame contact to a building.
Determined by the calculated distance
at which the radiant heat of the design
fire exceeds 29kW/m2 or calculated by
the sustained flame length, whichever is
the lesser.
• No acceptable solution for flame zone
applications – performance based

31. Compliance with Conditions of Consent
• Responsibility of Council or appointed Private Certifying Authority.
• RFS is a regulatory authority and can only provide general advice on
how to achieve compliance with conditions of consent.
• The RFS are not certifiers and cannot sign off on conditions of
consent.
• If the Builder/Developer is unable to determine compliance of a
material with conditions of consent seek confirmation from
manufacturer via a product safety data sheet.
• RFS Conditions are constantly reviewed to remove ambiguity.

32. Role of the RFS in DA process
• Assess any DA’s on bush fire prone land referred from Council
against the requirements of Planning for Bush Fire Protection.
• Under 79BA of the EP&A Act to make recommendations to
Council.
• Under s.100B of the Rural Fires Act 1997 issue a Bush Fire Safety
Authority to Council.
• Provide comments regarding LEP, DCP, Part 3A, State Significant
and Master Plans as part of the consultation process.
• Provide training to Stakeholders regarding PBP and its
implications for proposed developments on Bush Fire Prone Land.
• RFS plays a regulatory role in the planning process.
• THE RFS ARE NOT CERTIFIERS!

33. Thank You
Lew.short@rfs.nsw.gov.au
Lew Short
lewshort14