Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Bush Fire Risk Management Plan

Council’s bush fire management strategy is guided by the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai bush fire Risk Management Plan. The plan and actions within it are developed and overseen by the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai bush fire Management Committee who assess bush fire risk across tenures and prepare, review, update and implement Bush Fire Risk Management Plans (BFRMP), distributing mitigation responsibility to government agencies regardless of land ownership.

The Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Bush Fire Management Committee consists of representatives from Hornsby Shire Council, Ku-ring-gai Council, NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Fire and Rescue NSW, Department of Primary Industries Lands, NSW Police Force, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Lands Council and Nature Conservation Council.

Whilst Council contributes to a broad range of bush fire mitigation activities, ‘treatments’ scheduled within the BFRMPs are statutory and limited to hazard reduction (HR) burns, Asset Protection Zones (APZs), fire trails and community education.

The overarching objectives of bush fire treatments are to:

• manage fuel to reduce the extent, rate of spread and intensity of bush fires, while minimising environmental/ecological impacts
• reduce the community’s vulnerability to bush fires by improving its preparedness
• reduce the number of human-induced bush fire ignitions that cause damage to life, property and the environment
• facilitate the effective containment of fires with a potential to cause damage to life, property and the environment.