By Angela Valente
There is still community confusion about bushfire evacuation procedures, according to a Macedon Ranges council report into the February bushfires which left five families without homes and damaged hundreds of properties.
The report, released last week, says many residents don’t understand what a “neighbourhood safer place” or “place of last resort” is, with more education being needed so warnings can be understood.
Traffic management and roadblock issues were highlighted in the report, as was the quality of roadside slashing by VicRoads.
The council will ask Roads Minister Terry Mulder for additional VicRoads funding to enable more roadside slashing for fire prevention purposes.
Last year, the road authority changed the way it undertook slashing, but the change, which meant roads including the Calder Freeway and Melbourne-Lancefield Road were no longer slashed from fence to fence, was criticised by the council.
Council community safety manager Anne-Louise Lindner said one of the concerns was the quality of work done.
“The issue this year was more about quality,” she said. “Some areas we didn’t think were done to the appropriate standard.”
The council will also push for funds from the natural disaster relief funding pool, with the money used to employ a recovery co-ordinator for up to 12 months.
The work of BlazeAid, a volunteer organisation dedicated to helping residents who can’t afford to pay contractors to rebuild fences after bushfires, has been helping farmers since it was set up in Clarkefield on March 3.
Co-ordinator Christine Male said work had started on 54 properties and had been completed on 20 of them.
“The only thing we need desperately is volunteers,” she said. “We have many properties ready to rebuild in the next couple of weeks and would like some more volunteer assistance.
“You don’t need specific skills, just a willing heart.”
