The Victorian Government is running an online consultation on approaches to fire management. It’s a continuation of the consultation started last year on the subject. The info gathered from Phase One of the survey has been processed, and the results have no surprises:
Ninety seven people from the Loddon Mallee region responded to the survey, half of them from Bendigo. This is not really a sample big enough to build a policy on, especially since respondents aren’t necessarily representative of the community as a whole. What’s more, on the basis of these figures, it’s hard to establish a clear set of priority actions–it seems that the respondents, sensibly enough, consider all the categories important.
Nevertheless, the phase 2 section of the consultation proceeds to ask people what they think should be done in fire management. This is too long and complicated to summarise here. Two things are worth noting, though. First, the option of fuel reduction on private land is put up as a practical proposition for the first time. And second, the consultation is regionally specific: there’s a special section on the Mount Alexander Shire, which you can find here. Good luck with the maps, which are dreadful.
In practical terms, face to face sessions have been organised. In Castlemaine, these are scheduled for:
–Wednesday March 6 from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Ray Bradfield rooms. Drop in any time.
And
–Castlemaine farmers’ market, next Sunday March 3.
At these sessions you’ll possibly get a look at decent maps which will give a clearer idea of what the proposed options are. We’ll report in more detail on this process in future posts.
In 2018 the Midland Express published a series of ‘Landcare stories’ as part of Connecting Country’s ‘Nature News’ series. These stories are now available to read in electronic format (as pdf file), or as a printed booklet. 
Click on image for info/order page
Click on image for info/order page
Click on image for info/order page
