Council services during fire danger periods

East Gippsland Shire Council adopted an important Service Provisions and Fire Danger Ratings Policy in December, aimed at providing information to the public regarding Council’s preparedness and service availability on Code Red fire danger days, and to aid individual decision making by community members.

East Gippsland Shire has been declared a bushfire prone area by the State Government. Consequently, it is anticipated that the public will be on heightened alert on days with the highest fire danger ratings and alert for information that assists them in their bushfire contingency planning.

Mayor Cr Mendy Urie said the new policy flags changes and potential changes to Council services.

“The policy will help to protect staff and community members who want to use these services on Code Red fire danger days,” Cr Urie said.

“It will provide a really good guide for Council staff on days of the highest fire danger about services that will remain open and accessed by the community and those that will need to close to ensure the safety of all.”

Council will operate with altered or reduced service levels on Code Red days and/or State Government declared State of Disaster and may do so on days predicted to be of Severe or Extreme fire danger based on local conditions and/or advice from emergency services.

“Large areas within the shire are of high bushfire risk. We need to ensure Council’s operations do not unintentionally cause a fire to start. It is important to provide for the safety of Council staff and the public to ensure no undue risk when travelling to and accessing Council services,” Cr Urie said.

“This policy will assist in managing the process in emergency bushfire situations, bring clarity around community expectations of service delivery and ensure sufficient staff resources can be re-deployed in emergency response planning functions and provision of support to fire combating agencies and emergency relief centres.

“There is also a likelihood that some staff will take approved leave on such days to attend to family arrangements and to enact personal bushfire survival plans.”