Council has submitted its report to the independent bushfire enquiry commissioned by the NSW government. The enquiry will review the causes of the fire to prepare the state for the next bushfire season.
Council said it hoped its submission will help government planning and preparation to minimise or prevent similar events in the future. The recent bushfires, particularly at North Black Range and Currowan, affected properties and infrastructure in the council area.
Dry conditions, little access to water, overstretched resources, inaccessible fires, the vastness of the fire front, and wind changes contributed to the disaster in the region, the submission argued.
Recommendations included training landowners to prepare; appointing a divisional commander on a paid retainer basis; improving consultation; better welfare support; more centralized data; and reviewing building and dwelling laws and practices.
At Wednesday night's council meeting, Crs Marshall, Winchester, Brown, and Noveska voted against endorsing the submission.
There was no mention of climate change, cuts to National Parks and Wildlife Service staff, or communications infrastructure, Cr Marshall protested - issues he, a volunteer firefighter, had heard mentioned on the fireground.
"It's like the submission has been written to not criticize in any way the activities of the New South Wales government," Cr Marshall said.
The submission was amended on Cr Biscotti's suggestion to review grazing rights and firewood collection in state and national parks to reduce overall grazing loads and help farmers in drought. Both practices are illegal.
Absolutely nobody involved in the firefighting was concerned with those issues, Cr Marshall said.
"It is contemptible to put this in to try to hijack a serious inquiry into very serious bushfires for petty party political individual benefit of farmers who want to get free grazing," Cr Marshall said. "I've yet to meet a sheep or a cow that eats bark or leaf litter or undergrowth; it simply doesn't happen."
Stock grazing in NSW national parks has been forbidden for almost 15 years, except for a trial eight years ago. State National Party members, however, want farmers to graze in national parks. Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall called national park estates a "ticking time bomb" for farmers, and believes leasing sections for grazing would keep the fuel load down and the cattle fat.
The National Parks Association of NSW, however, states there is no evidence cattle grazing reduces fire risk in forests; grazing did not stop fires from spreading in the Victorian High Country or suppress them. Nature Conservation Council CEO Chris Gambian argued cows damage the environment and increase fire risk; they trample native plants, increase erosion, collapse river banks, pollute streams, and spread fast-growing, highly flammable weeds.
Removing firewood from national parks is banned, the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment states, because it degrades national parks and destroys animal habitats; offenders can be fined up to $30,000. Outside nature reserves, firewood may be collected as a fire management strategy.
Nicholas Fuller
The exciting thing about journalism is the variety; one can explore the world, meet interesting people and write about it. I've sat in the caravan of an African circus ringmaster; I've squatted on my haunches in a plastic-sorting factory in the Mumbai slums, talking to the workers and drinking hot chai in plastic cups the size of thimbles; and I've interviewed Chinese cultural attachés, Danish football stars and Japanese drummers. Now I’ve come to the Northern Tablelands as a group journalist working across six of Fairfax’s mastheads. Living in New England is a return to country. My father’s side of the family lived here since the 19th century. My great-great-grandparents are buried in Ben Lomond. My great-grandmother and grandmother spent most of their lives in and around Glencoe and Glen Innes, and are both buried in Tamworth. My grandfather isn’t; his ashes are in a cupboard until we throw them in the Macdonald, near Bendemeer, where he used to fish. And my father cut his teeth as a cadet journalist on the Northern Daily Leader, before moving to Canberra, and studied history at UNE. Moving here is following in the family footsteps. Armidale seems charming: up here, in Australia’s highest city, one feels close to the sky. And the mixture of 1830s historic buildings; green, rain-washed hills, crowned with conifers; and one of the country’s leading universities give it a unique appeal. I completed my journalism qualifications last year, while freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and holding down a full-time job. I spent the end of last year in Sri Lanka, where I reported on visiting Buddhist dignitaries (from exotic Perth), UN development programs, Italian food weeks, and hotels in former war-zones. Previously, I worked as a writer and editor for the Australian Government in Canberra for a decade. In my day job, I briefed members of parliament about international relations, and wrote about agricultural aid programs to developing countries. Journalism, though, is where my heart lies. I want to experience life, rather than sit behind a desk. And, having grown up in Belgium, I want to be Tintin. I hope to get to know and love the region where my ancestors lived, while reporting on issues important to the Tablelands.
The exciting thing about journalism is the variety; one can explore the world, meet interesting people and write about it. I've sat in the caravan of an African circus ringmaster; I've squatted on my haunches in a plastic-sorting factory in the Mumbai slums, talking to the workers and drinking hot chai in plastic cups the size of thimbles; and I've interviewed Chinese cultural attachés, Danish football stars and Japanese drummers. Now I’ve come to the Northern Tablelands as a group journalist working across six of Fairfax’s mastheads. Living in New England is a return to country. My father’s side of the family lived here since the 19th century. My great-great-grandparents are buried in Ben Lomond. My great-grandmother and grandmother spent most of their lives in and around Glencoe and Glen Innes, and are both buried in Tamworth. My grandfather isn’t; his ashes are in a cupboard until we throw them in the Macdonald, near Bendemeer, where he used to fish. And my father cut his teeth as a cadet journalist on the Northern Daily Leader, before moving to Canberra, and studied history at UNE. Moving here is following in the family footsteps. Armidale seems charming: up here, in Australia’s highest city, one feels close to the sky. And the mixture of 1830s historic buildings; green, rain-washed hills, crowned with conifers; and one of the country’s leading universities give it a unique appeal. I completed my journalism qualifications last year, while freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and holding down a full-time job. I spent the end of last year in Sri Lanka, where I reported on visiting Buddhist dignitaries (from exotic Perth), UN development programs, Italian food weeks, and hotels in former war-zones. Previously, I worked as a writer and editor for the Australian Government in Canberra for a decade. In my day job, I briefed members of parliament about international relations, and wrote about agricultural aid programs to developing countries. Journalism, though, is where my heart lies. I want to experience life, rather than sit behind a desk. And, having grown up in Belgium, I want to be Tintin. I hope to get to know and love the region where my ancestors lived, while reporting on issues important to the Tablelands.
