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Department of Transport and Planning

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This is the first year that information from the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) has been included in this report. DTP plays an important role in mitigating bushfire risk along Victoria's arterial road network, contributing to a reduction in the likelihood of fires igniting and spreading across the state, and supporting safe access and egress of firefighters and communities.

Under the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 and Road Management Act 2004, DTP collaborates with fire agencies and local governments to undertake prevention and preparedness activities across its managed land and infrastructure.

Information about DTPs bushfire management activities, the Victorian Arterial Road Bushfire Risk Assessment, and a case study have been included in this report. In future reports, OBRM will continue to work with DTP to assess what standardised data and information can be provided where that information meaningfully assesses progress against the outcomes of the Strategy and VBMERF.

A summary of activities undertaken by DTP to reduce bushfire risk

DTPs key activities in bushfire risk reduction fall into the following categories:

Vegetation management on the arterial road network, consisting of:

  • Grass slashing of the road reserve along arterial roads and freeways, and of Strategic Fire Suppression Lines where recommended in the JFMP.
  • Maintenance of road furniture and wire rope and spraying of signs, guideposts and the guard rail.
  • Removing fallen vegetation and clearance pruning within the road maintenance envelope.

Vegetation management on identified priority access egress routes, consisting of:

  • Working with CFA and councils as part of the Municipal Fire Management Planning process to identify priority egress and access routes and routes to Community Fire Refuges.
  • On a regular basis, commissioning Hazardous Tree Assessments of these roads, working with DEECA to assess those trees deemed unsafe, and, where necessary, felling those posing a risk to safety and removing non-preferred species.
  • Grass slashing of those roads listed as main access egress roads in Municipal Fire Management Plans (where practical).

Supporting CFA planned burns on arterial roads, consisting of:

  • Supporting traffic management permits, spraying, tilling and grading to provide control line establishment for planned burns identified in the JFMP.

Administering the building and planning systems that regulate development in areas where there is a bushfire hazard using the:

These controls aim to make communities and buildings safer from the impacts of bushfire.

Upcoming work - Disaster Ready Grants Project - the Victorian Arterial Road Bushfire Risk Assessment

In August 2024, the Commonwealth Government announced DTP was successful in obtaining grant funding to update the Victorian Arterial Road Bushfire Risk Assessment. Over the next three years, this project will be conducted in partnership with Safer Together agencies to examine bushfire risk along the arterial road network to assist in prioritising roadside fuel management delivered for the purpose of bushfire risk reduction.

The project will link with existing risk assessment processes, such as the Victorian Emergency Risk Assessment, locations of Neighbourhood Safer Places and Community Fire Refuges, and produce data sets which can be used by fire agencies to enhance predictive modelling ahead of, and during, the high-risk weather season.

Ultimately, this project will support community resilience, community safety and preparedness.

Case Study

Great Ocean Road and Lorne-Deans Marsh Road Hazardous Tree Mitigation Works

Between 2020 and 2024, the DEECA and DTP undertook a joint project to deliver hazardous tree mitigation works along the Great Ocean Road from Lorne to Torquay and the Lorne-Deans Marsh Road. These roads are classified as high fire risk, high consequence arterial roads, are identified as primary access and egress routes in the Lorne and Deans Marsh Local Response Plans and works along them are a part of the Otway Joint Fuel Management Plan.

Utilising DEECA funding and DTP expertise and professional contract services, the project assessed all trees on these routes against the FFMVic Hazardous Tree standard, felled those posing a risk to safety while avoiding damage to retained trees and vegetation and leaving them in situ but clear of the road edge, and removed non-preferred species. The works on the Great Ocean Road between Lorne and Torquay and 12 km of the Lorne-Deans Marsh Road were undertaken between October 2020 and June 2021 and consisted of 29 days of work with a crew of 10 staff including the use of a bobcat and 22-tonne excavator with a log grab head with cutting attachment. The size of these trees varied from 5 metres to 40 metres in height. The remaining sections of the Lorne-Deans Marsh Road were completed in early 2024.

These works delivered a critical public safety project, while completing Phase 1 of the Strategic Fuel Break Program for the Otway District – a program which saw the construction of 50km of strategic fuel breaks in the high bushfire risk, forested landscape to the north of the Great Ocean Road with proximity to the communities of Anglesea, Aireys Inlet, Fairhaven, Moggs Creek and Lorne.

Updated

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