Bushfire Property Preparation for Melbourne's South-East
Check whether your property sits inside a mapped bushfire overlay, read CFA's guidance on defendable space, and book Terra's prep package: mowing, gutter clearing, tree and branch clearance by our in-house arborist, and waste removal, ahead of the Fire Danger Period.
Check whether your property is in a bushfire overlay
This looks up your address against the Victorian Government's public planning maps for the Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO) and the designated Bushfire Prone Area (BPA). It is a guide only, so always confirm with your council or a planning report before relying on it for a building permit. We do not store the address you enter.
Defendable space: CFA's guidance
Defendable space is the area of land around a building where vegetation and other fuel are managed to reduce the effects of a bushfire: less fuel means less radiant heat and a lower chance of ember attack reaching the house, and it gives firefighters room to work if the property needs to be defended. Source: CFA, Removing vegetation around your home .
CFA's own property-preparation guidance is specific: clear gutters of leaves, twigs and rubbish, since leaf litter is exactly the fine fuel an ember ignites first; mow grass to create a well-managed clearing around the home, commonly cited at around 10 metres where the block allows it; and remove dried grass, leaves and twigs from around the house and garden before they build up into fuel. Source: CFA, Preparing for Bushfire Season .
Victoria's planning rules also include exemptions that let a property owner clear some vegetation, including trees, close to a home for bushfire protection without needing a planning permit in many areas. CFA and Planning Victoria both publish the current distances and conditions. Because the exemption depends on the property, the overlay it sits in and how close the vegetation is to the building, check the specific exemption that applies to your address before removing anything you're not sure about; the exemption protects someone acting within its terms, not someone who assumed it applied. Sources: CFA, Removing Vegetation and Planning Victoria, Vegetation Removal for Bushfire Protection .
This is general information, not planning or building advice for your specific property. For anything affecting a permit application or a BAL rating, get a bushfire attack level assessment or a planning report from a qualified consultant.
When's the Fire Danger Period declared?
There's no single date, and any page that gives you one is guessing. CFA declares the Fire Danger Period separately for each municipality, timed to local rainfall, grassland curing and seasonal conditions rather than the calendar, and it can be declared as early as October in some council areas and stay in force until the risk eases, sometimes as late as May. Cardinia and Yarra Ranges are declared independently of each other and independently each year. Source: CFA, About the Fire Danger Period .
Check the current declaration for Cardinia or Yarra Ranges on CFA's fire restriction dates page rather than a fixed date. The practical implication for preparation work is the same every year regardless of the exact date: book it in winter or early spring, before the declaration and before everyone else in the region is trying to book the same work.
Terra's bushfire prep package
Best booked before the Fire Danger Period, whenever it's declared for your council this year.
Mowing and slashing
Grass cut low around the home and outbuildings, and on larger blocks, so there is less fine fuel to carry a fire toward the house.
Gutter and roofline clearing
Leaves, bark and twigs cleared from gutters and valleys. CFA lists this among the most important jobs, since gutter debris is exactly the kind of fine fuel embers ignite first.
Tree and branch clearance
Overhanging and low branches near the house assessed and removed by our in-house Cert IV arborist and climbing crew, within the exemptions that apply to vegetation removal for bushfire protection.
Green waste removal
Everything cut, raked or cleared is taken off site rather than left in a pile beside the house, which would just relocate the fuel load rather than remove it.