DEAR News Of The Area,

THE world has watched the devastation and loss of life caused by the catastrophic bushfires in LA and our condolences go to those affected in California.

Whether you believe in ‘Global Warming’ or not, historically in Australia, we experience the same ‘catastrophic’ conditions on average every seven to ten years, this is a fact.

Critical to managing these ‘catastrophic’ weather events is preparation and planning.

The last event, rightly named the ‘Black Summer’ bushfires, wreaked havoc down the entire NSW Coast, destroyed communities and took many lives, with communities on the South Coast still living in shipping containers and caravans five years on.

The NSW State Government conducted a bushfire enquiry that handed down more than 70 recommendations, none of which have been adopted to date.

This is criminal negligence by state and local government authorities in my opinion.

In a recent letter to the Mayor of MidCoast Council, Claire Pontin, where serious concerns were raised about the lack of planning and preparation for the most ‘vulnerable/at risk communities’ in the LGA, Clare Pontin replied ‘washing her hands’ of any responsibility to these communities, see extract from her reply:

“As you will appreciate fire management and control is largely the responsibility of the RFS and Fire and Rescue and Council has no authority over these agencies.

“Many of our coastal communities have one road access.

“This includes Harrington, Old Bar, Wallabi Point, Seal Rocks, Coomba Park, North Arm Cove, etc.

“It is a problem we recognise and wherever possible we seek to remedy.

“However, it is a result of planning decisions taken by Councils.many decades ago and there is no easy solution.

“In addition, many of our rural communities are also very vulnerable from fire.”

Sadly, this is typical of most politicians and bureaucrats today.

Firstly, the NSW Rural Fire Service and Fire and Rescue NSW are firefighting agencies, whose planning, and preparation is to respond to fires.

Landowners and Land Managers are responsible for managing the bushfire risk on lands under their control, as per the NSW Rural Fires Act 1997. This means Councils, National Parks, Forestry, Crown Lands and private landowners, etc.

Secondly, Claire Pontin and the bureaucrats are fully aware of all the communities at risk, but just shrug their shoulders. It’s all too hard and then they blame everyone else.

This is simply not good enough!

I believe that most politicians have entered Politics to serve and improve their communities – all communities – not just some and I feel the problem lies with those advising them.

Claire Pontin needs to remember that she and the other councillors actually run the Council and that they need to start listening to, and acting to protect, their constituents.

The catastrophic fires in LA should be a serious wake up call to Council because our next drought gets closer every day.

Regards,
Vivien Panhuber,
President,
Pindimar Bundabah Community Association.