OCEAN GROVE FIRE FEAR
Member for Western Victoria Region, Bev McArthur used a constituency question in Parliament this week to ask the Minister for Environment about the build-up of fuel loads in the Ocean Grove Nature Reserve.
The reserve spans over 350 acres and is surrounded by suburban blocks. Constituents have contacted Mrs McArthur expressing their concerns over the potential for the build-up of vegetation to contribute to a fire.
At a public meeting in Ocean Grove, Forest Fire Management Victoria told residents that they intended to spend $30,000 of taxpayers money to mulch a 40-meter strip of the reserve as their solution to mitigating the acknowledged fire risk.
Bev McArthur said “being a keen gardener, I am curious to see how $30,000 would be spent on mulch!”
She said “having visited the site myself, clearly a machine is being used to smash some sticks on the ground, trample native grasses, smash logs and knock off tree branches.”
“It was a curious definition of mulch but was also extremely problematic as it did not involve removing any of the ‘mulched’ or dead timber.”
“The supposed mulching clearly does nothing to reduce fire risk while damaging remnant vegetation.”
Bev McArthur asked the Minister, “how is a $30 000 expenditure on mulching going to save the lives of Ocean Grove residents in the event of a fire?”
7 February 2020