Huon Valley Council is working closely with the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) and the community to raise awareness of the need to get bushfire-ready as we head into the warmer months.

Keeping our community safe from bushfire threat requires everyone to do their bit to remove fire hazards from their property and put a household disaster plan in place. The TFS has a range of free bushfire preparation resources on preparing your property and putting together a Bushfire Survival Plan for your household, whether you plan to leave early or stay and defend. Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods also has a helpful video series exploring eight key aspects to preparing your property.

“We can all help protect our towns by taking responsibility for cleaning up our properties and supporting our neighbours to do the same,” said Huon Valley Council Mayor Bec Enders.

Council has extensive roadside slashing and vegetation management programmes on Council-owned roads and land to reduce bushfire risk in our towns, and also issues fire abatement notices to properties that are deemed to present an immediate risk to life or property on adjoining land.

“We can all help protect our towns by taking responsibility for cleaning up our properties and supporting our neighbours to do the same.”

Council is also supporting the delivery of free workshops in the Huon relating to bushfire recovery and preparation, aimed at local residents who were affected by the early 2019 bushfires. A number of Red Cross workshops took place during August focusing on the ways we can support friends, family and work mates to recover from a disaster event. On 31 August the well-attended Giddy Up Get Ready Huon workshop in Ranelagh was the first in a series of TFS-run workshops to take place throughout the Huon, and looked at emergency planning for animals.

More TFS Bushfire Awareness sessions will be happening this October, November and December, with the following open for bookings with Lesley King via (03) 6166 5606:

• 12 October – Mountain River/Crabtree bushfire survival plan workshop
• 30 November – Judbury/Upper Huon bushfire-ready mural painting workshop
• 7 December – Southport Community Protection Plan launch

You can also book in for a Bushfire Recovery and Preparedness workshop with psychologist Dr Rob Gordon, taking place at Huonville Town Hall at 40 Main Street, Huonville, on 31 October 2019 by contacting Council on 6264 0300 or via hvc@huonvalley.tas.gov.au.

Read the media full release here.

Feature image (from left): Community Development Officer for Tasmania Fire Service Lesley King, Emergency Management Coordinator for Huon Valley Council Rebecca Bell, Tasmania Fire Service volunteer Suzie Clifford, Mel Taylor of the Bushfire Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, and Emma Watkins and Mary-Lou Conway from Biosecurity Tasmania (DPIPWE) at the Giddy Up Get Ready Huon workshop