UPDATED planning controls and exemptions for vegetation removal are among changes to bushfire protection exemptions on the Mornington Peninsula.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council said it had successfully lobbied the state government for the state-wide changes which align fence line vegetation exemptions with the map of Victorian bushfire prone areas.
The changes mean landowners in areas at risk of bushfire can clear vegetation without a planning permit.
Landowners outside bushfire prone areas covered by vegetation protection, environmental significance and significant landscape overlays need a planning permit to remove vegetation.
“These changes allow landowners of properties at risk of bushfire to remove vegetation to protect their lives and property without the hassle and costs of getting a planning permit,” the mayor Cr Sam Hearn said.
He said the changes were a “sensible clarification of planning controls and realignment of exemptions to support landowners in protecting their lives and properties from bushfires”.
“These changes also help us conserve vegetation, habitat and biodiversity values outside of bushfire risk areas on the peninsula by restricting unnecessary clearing.”
Details: mornpen.vic.gov.au/vegetationremoval
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 25 August 2020
