HAWKESBURY RURAL FIRE SERVICE
Mr ROZZOLI (Hawkesbury) [7.50 p.m.]: I wish to speak on a matter of grave concern to a section of my electorate. It relates to a proposal by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to extend the Blue Mountains National Park into an area of Crown land west and north of Bowen Mountain, near Kurrajong in my electorate, including the Woods Creek Reserve - under the care and responsibility of the Department of Sport and Recreation - and the Vale of Avoca Lookout area. There is a recognised history of wildfires affecting most of this area and from time to time this has posed a serious risk to the areas of Bowen Mountain, Kurrajong Heights and Grose Wold.
Several traditional fire paths to the west of Bowen Mountain contribute significantly to the risk of property. The Bells Range fire of 1994 was the subject of a lengthy coroner’s inquest due to the loss of property in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury local government areas. That inquiry recognised the need for an extremely dedicated approach to be taken towards fire protection in areas of high bushfire risk, as is the case with Kurrajong Heights, Bowen Mountain, Grose Wold and Grose Vale.
This area is regarded as the most potentially dangerous fire zone in the Hawkesbury local government area, and it is regularly affected by serious bushfires. There is currently a network of fire trails in the area, some of which are linked to strategic national features to create fire advantage lines during large-scale firefighting operations. This system provides the opportunity to minimise the spread of fire and the need for hastily and indiscriminately constructed new trails in fire conditions which are not always in the interests of the environment.
It is against this background that the National Parks and Wildlife Service is suggesting that the Blue Mountains National Park boundary be expanded to include this area. Bowen Mountain is a residential area of fairly small blocks and is a very leafy environment. Over the years the Bush Fire Brigade, now the Rural Fire Service of Hawkesbury, has maintained the area well and has an excellent record in the preservation of property on Bowen Mountain.
The local brigades understand the area and over the years have protected the area and its environment by careful burning. In negotiations with the National Parks and Wildlife Service it was thought that the situation was reasonably under control and that they could expect from the National Parks and Wildlife Service a sympathetic attitude towards the preservation of life and property on Bowen Mountain. However, local residents are concerned at a recent letter that appeared in a magazine called Wild under the signature of Sherrie-Lee Evans, the acting Blue Mountains district manager, on behalf of the acting Director-General of the National Parks and Wildlife Service New South Wales. The letter said:
The notion that hot fires in summer are "bad" and "devastating" for the bush, but low intensity fires in the cooler mountains are just what the bush needs is simplistic and not supported by scientific evidence. High intensity fires, if not too frequent, can in fact be "good" for some vegetation types. If applied to entire ecosystems, the rigid simplicity of a 12- to 15-year routine of cool burns could indeed produce a "cycle of death" in the long term. Considerable scientific evidence indicates that a diversity of fire regimes, including fires of varied intensity and frequency, will best conserve the unique biodiversity of the Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains National Park has considerable biodiversity. It is a relatively small area and, quite frankly, I place the lives and property of the citizens of my electorate above the environmental values of this small section of bush, particularly as there is no evidence to suggest that the environment has been adversely affected by the careful hazard reduction regime followed by bush fire brigades over the years.
I call upon the Minister for the Environment not to declare this area as part of the Blue Mountains National Park but to allow it to be kept under the same regime that has served both the environment and local residents so well over the years. I ask the Minister to put the lives of the people above anything else. We have seen the drastic effects of bushfires and wildfires that have got out of control and have swept through housing areas. Those fires have taken the lives of residents and bush fire fighters. I do not wish to have that on my conscience and I am sure the Minister would not want that either. I ask her to intervene and adopt a sensible alternative.
Private members’ statements noted.
House adjourned at 7.55 p.m. until Tuesday, 10 November 1998, at 2.15 p.m.