Project Update - August 2023

Thank you for your feedback

The City asked for your feedback between July and August 2023 on our draft framework for assessing bushfire risks in Cockburn. This page received 550 visits, and users downloaded the draft plan 380 times. The City received 26 submissions, including 10 feedback form responses,15 written submissions, and one phone submission. Thank you for having your say.

What our community said

The feedback was diverse, without a discernible and consistent overarching theme. Approximately 50% of the feedback pertained directly to the plan itself, while the remaining 50% addressed broader aspects of bushfire management and mitigation activities.

• Some of the feedback about the plan included -
  • Provide an assessment of the escalating risks associated with climate change and its ramifications for heightened bushfire occurrences.
  • Replace complex terminology, such as ‘tenure-blind’, with accessible language.
  • Incorporate references to relevant plans, policies, and legislative frameworks, such as the City's Climate Change Strategy 2020-2030, the State Government's Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, and the State Planning Policy 3.7 - Planning in bushfire prone areas.
• Some of the feedback outside the plan's scope but relevant to bushfire mitigation included:
  • Limit the use of introduced species in parks and reserves.
  • Seek opportunities to incorporate local Aboriginal methods into burn-off operations and investigate potential employment possibilities.
  • Clarify details regarding the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attraction's risk management strategies for Shirley Balla Reserve in Banjup.

For more information, read the Community Feedback Summary in the Document Library.

Next steps

The City is reviewing the community’s feedback alongside the relevant legislation and guidelines as we finalise the plan.

We will present the final plan to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services for quality assurance, before seeking final sign off from the State Government’s Office of Bushfire Risk Management. We will then present the plan to Council for adoption in fourth-quarter 2023. Once approved, we will publish the plan on the City of Cockburn website.

Meanwhile, the City's Community Safety and Ranger Services Team continue their year-round fire prevention endeavours in preparation for the upcoming summer bushfire season.

More information

For more information on Fire and Emergency Management please visit the City's website or contact the City's Community Safety and Ranger Services Team at 08 9411 3444 or [email protected].