Bush Fire Prone Land (BFPL) is an area of land that has the potential to carry a bush fire and may be subject to bush fire attack. Bush Fire Prone Land identifies vegetation hazard within an LGA, this includes most vegetated areas and land that falls within the buffer distance of that vegetation and is recorded on a Bush Fire Prone Land Map that has been certified by the Commissioner NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS). The Map acts as a trigger for the consideration of bushfire protection measures for any development that may be proposed on a property.

Council has been notified that the NSW RFS Commissioner has certified a new Wollondilly Shire Council Bush Fire Prone Land Map on the 30th May 2023, in accordance with the Rural Fires Act 1997 and in line with the latest legislation. This has replaced the previous Bush Fire Prone Land Map for Wollondilly.

Your property may now be identified on the map as being Bush Fire Prone Land, even if it may not have been previously.

Council’s interactive online mapping system (IntraMaps)   has been updated to include the new Bush Fire Prone Land Map which can identify if your property is designated as bush fire prone land.

BUSH FIRE PRONE LAND MAPPING TOOL
The bush fire prone land online mapping tool  has been created using NSW Local Council’s bush fire prone maps and is designed to identify if your property is designated as bush fire prone. The Tool is provided by the NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) and will show you whether you property is identified as being Bush Fire Prone, which will trigger requirements for building on your property.

MAPPING ON THE NSW PLANNING PORTAL
Alternatively, the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer is an online environment where community, industry and government can work together to better understand and meet their obligations under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. It hosts a range of digital planning services, mapping tools and reporting tools to assist everyone involved in a proposed development.

If your property is identified as either partially or wholly Bush Fire Prone, the RFS website provides an interactive questionnaire   which is designed to help you navigate the information contained within Planning for Bush Fire Protection (PBP) and how it effects you.  All developments on land that is designated as bush fire prone has a legal obligation to consider bush fire and meet the requirements of Planning for Bush Fire Protection and AS3959.

Whether you are planning to build a new house, start a renovation or simply have questions about how to better prepare you property, the questions will help you find what you need to know.

The NSW RFS provides information on bush fire protection, assessment and the legal framework that governs the planning process for proposed developments on bush fire prone land in NSW.

The following link to the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) website  provides helpful information on how to plan and prepare when building in a bush fire prone area, and is relevant to home owners, developers, planners, councils and other government organisations.

A Fact Sheet prepared by the NSW Rural Fire Service containing more detailed information is also available.