General News
10 January, 2025
Council slashing program is “courting disaster” according to local CFA captain
As multiple fires have continued to spark up during the Fire Danger Period (FDP), a local fire brigade captain has questioned council’s slashing program, calling it a “slap in the face” to local brigades.
The Central Goldfields Shire Council’s (CGSC) slashing program started after the FDP commenced locally on Monday, November 11 and is expected to be completed by Tuesday, January 14.
On Friday, December 20, 2024, CGSC announced the program would cease operations during the Christmas period until Monday, January 6.
While many townships like Maryborough, Carisbrook, Talbot and Bealiba had been completed, the closure happened before the majority of works in Dunolly, Simpson, Havelock and Bet Bet were started.
That announcement drew the ire of Carisbrook Fire Brigade Captain Ian Boucher, who believes the works should already be completed.
“The slashing program should be well and truly finished by Christmas, it’s just ridiculous to advertise it’s going to restart on January 6 in the middle of fire season,” he said.
“Council has been really good on pressing for volunteers but I think their slashing program is such a slap in the face to volunteers.
“Volunteers have to leave their businesses and families to protect the community — to expect someone to go out to a fire started because of a slasher in the middle of January is ridiculous.
“They have recently evacuated towns like Halls Gap because of bushfires and we are going to recommence a slashing program, it’s just courting disaster.”
Slashing is an important practice to mitigate the risk of a fire outbreak by reducing the fuel load and making it easier for the fire to be put out.
The Central Goldfields has already seen multiple grass fires during the FDP, including two near identical blazes occurring in Moonlight Flat on consecutive days in December due to private slashing.
According to Captain Boucher, local brigades have continuously raised concerns surrounding the program which have been ignored.
“It has certainly been raised at the Goldfields group level, every brigade is of the same opinion that you shouldn’t be slashing this time of year,” he said.
“The Carisbrook Fire Brigade wrote a letter to council at our last brigade meeting stating that they shouldn’t be cutting grass at this time of year.
“The council workers used to do it themselves, it was a council job and it’s now been contracted out.
“Lots of times they have put it down to weather conditions but this time there have been no concerns whatsoever about weather, they could have been slashed ages ago.”
According to CGSC general manager infrastructure assets and planning Amber Ricks, council consults with local stakeholders to ensure an efficient program aimed at decreasing fire risk.
“Our experienced operations team make the call on when the slashing program commences and concludes, based on advice from the CFA and Forest Fire Management Victoria in relation to their assessment of the fire season in our local region,” she said.
“Conditions can differ considerably from other districts surrounding Central Goldfields, due to localised spring temperatures and rainfall.
“We depend on the advice of experts and wait for the grasses to cure to prevent hazardous regrowth during the peak fire risk period, which is usually mid-February.”
In April 2022, council awarded a contract to Landlinks Environmental Services, TREC Land Services, S.H.A.E Enterprises and Recon Forestry to form a panel of suppliers in managing approximately 1200 kilometres of rural roads.
As stated in the council meeting report where the contract was awarded, “the value of this contract is approximately $539,000 exclusive of GST over a three-year period”.
CGSC mayor Grace La Vella said private contractors are the best way for council to ensure local slashing is completed.
“Roadside slashing is a seasonal service provided by council, which is carried out at the optimal time based on expert advice,” she said.
“Rather than purchasing costly equipment which would only be used during the summer season for slashing, like many other shires, we use experienced contractors to get the slashing done efficiently and safely during the recommended season for each different district.
“We are always open to advice from community if they believe an area has been missed. Contact council’s Customer Service Centre and let the operations team know, or lodge a request on our ‘Report A Problem’ webpage.”