Pittwater Life November 2020 Issue

News
Burning question for Ingleside
The bushfire season is upon us and
residents of Ingleside are more worried
than most, feeling hazard reduction
has been neglected for far too long.
Two years ago, Ingleside was deemed too
much of a fire risk to consider development
in the area. According to many locals,
however, no hazard reduction burning has
been carried out since then.
Dig deeper and some will tell you that
the area has not been prepared properly for
the bushfire season in almost a decade.
Stephen Choularton, President of BIRA
(Bayview Ingleside Residents Association),
told Pittwater Life that as far back as 2013
the area was marked as urgently needing
hazard reduction – but it’s not been done.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen,” says
Stephen Choularton. “The fires were bad
here in ’93/’94, and I have no doubt they
will be a lot worse next time.”
Another resident of Ingleside Stephen
Smith agrees.
“I was part of the Ingleside Community
Reference Group (ICRG) formed in 2013 by
Pittwater Council, to represent people in
the area when it came to land development
– and it’s gone nowhere. Finally, 22 months
ago we were told we would receive the
development plan within a month. Then
five months ago there was an apology and
another meeting was announced… which
was cancelled three or four days before it
was due to take place.”
Stephen Smith is certainly worried: “Last
fire season was scary and it’s a question
of when – not if – a fire comes through.
There’s nowhere to go… what’s the evacuation
plan?”
Stephen Choularton believes that most
residents in the area are in favour of development
and would welcome a development
plan. He believes that locals are largely
very keen to sub-divide land. But beyond
the questions of zoning, it is the imminent
fire season that needs addressing urgently,
according to both Stephens.
“I know they’ve been doing backburns,”
says Stephen Smith, “but not in Ingleside.
OVERVIEW: Dark areas show burned land, with green areas revealing dense growth.
They did a great burn 15 years ago and
told me then that they would stay on top of
things... that it had to be done at least every
12 years to avoid trouble. It hasn’t been
done since.”
When residents have taken matters into
their own hands, they claim Council has
‘stop-worked’ their efforts to clear the fire
hazards and threatened them with fines.
“The Council served notice for land
clearance,” says Stephen Choularton. “They
told us the RFS would come and burn it,
but the season has passed yet again.”
If nothing else, an evacuation plan would
seem an absolute necessity.
“We have water tanks rather than water,”
explains Stephen Smith. “They’re doing
road works on Mona Vale Road, they could
at least put a water pipe to the Fire Station.
“Either do a burn-off, or give us the water
and let us do it.”
Scott Molenaar, who is responsible for
Community Safety with the Northern
Beaches District RFS, played down the
residents’ concerns.
“Things are definitely happening in the
Ingleside area – especially in the Cicada
Glen Creek area, north of Cicada Glen
Road and up towards Bayview,” says Scott.
“Hazard reduction burning is happening,
although weather conditions have made
that hard in recent weeks.”
Scott agreed that Mona Vale Road was
certainly in danger of getting clogged in
the event of an evacuation, but was pragmatic
about the situation.
“The roads are the roads,” said Scott,
“you can’t really change that.
“There is also a responsibility on owners
to manage risks to their properties and
prepare for fire season conditions,” he
added. “You can’t rely entirely on the RFS.”
The RFS remain confident the situation
is under control, but if nothing else, there
seems to be a communication breakdown
that needs to be addressed. – Rob Pegley
*At its October meeting Councillors were
expected to endorse a staff recommendation
to place the new draft Bush Fire Management
Policy on public exhibition for a
minimum 28 days, with the outcomes and
feedback to be reported to Council.
IMAGE: Google Maps.
8 NOVEMBER 2020
The Local Voice Since 1991