The Local Government Act 1993 provides for Councils to abate public nuisances, including the risk of fire.
Council staff authorised under the Local Government Act 1993 may enter properties to check for fire risks. Photographs are taken to record existing fire risks and to confirm when risks have been removed following the issue of an abatement notice. Council staff are carrying out this process to protect the community. Please treat them with respect as they perform this important work.
If an inspection shows there is, or is likely to be, a direct fire risk on private property that presents an immediate risk to life or property on adjoining land then the Local Government Act 1993 assigns Councils with the responsibility to clear a hazard at the owner’s expense if the owner does not do so inside a specified time.
Council patrols will identify fire hazards including declared weeds (e.g. gorse, broom, holly and blackberry) and unkept vegetation (e.g. overgrown lawns).
Fire risks include fire hazards which pose an unacceptable risk to built infrastructure or firefighting access/evacuation routes within urban areas or where the ignition of a fire hazard during a bushfire would place additional demand on emergency services.
Fire risk abatement:
- Helps people understand, identify and remove fire risk on their own property; and
- Helps to protect people from a fire risk which may come from neighbouring properties.
Received an Abatement Notice?
Please do not ignore an abatement notice – read through the notice carefully and review the information.
The notice will list the specific fire risks identified on your property and provide a deadline by which these risks must be removed.
Begin clearing the risks as soon as possible — mowing, trimming, removing rubbish, or cutting back vegetation. Please follow appropriate procedures to avoid spreading weeds. If you cannot complete the work yourself, you may need to consider hiring a contractor. If you don’t think you’ll be able to clear the fire risk by the deadline, contact Council immediately to discuss options.
After the notice deadline, Council officers will reinspect the property. If the fire risk remains, Council will arrange for the fire risk to be compulsorily cleared. The costs will be charged to the property owner. The Local Government Act 1993 imposes fines for failing to comply with an abatement notice.
We recommend reading the Frequently Asked Questions at the bottom of this page to learn more about the fire abatement process. If you have any questions at all, please reach out to Council – do not ignore the notice and its instructions.
If you cannot clear the fire risk yourself, you may wish to consider seeking assistance from a contractor. Whilst Council cannot recommend any contractors, below is a list of contractors who have agreed to have their details listed on Council’s website for the public to contact about clearing fire risk:
Zeehan Hardware
- phone: (03) 6471 6201
- email: acc.zeehanhardware@outlook.com.au
Williams Earthmoving
- Please note that Williams Earthmoving does slashing with a 13 tonne or 6 tonne excavator. They do not offer a lawn mowing service.
- phone: 0417 582 908 or 6471 2295
- email: admin@williamsearthmoving.com.au
Tophs Handyman Services
- phone: 0429 650 070 or 0435 601 875
- email: tophshandymanservices@gmail.com
- website: https://www.tophshms.com/
Silver City Tree Care Pty Ltd
- phone: 0458 142 440 or 0477 684 558
- Email: troysilvercitytreecare@gmail.com
Strahan Garden Maintenance
- phone: 0402 693 572
- Email: icky.cleaning.strahan@gmail.com
The above list is not exhaustive. By including the above details, Council does not endorse these contractors above or before any others that may also be able to conduct appropriate works.
Before engaging any contractor, it is recommended property owners complete due diligence to ensure contractors hold appropriate insurances and licences and that the contractor has an ABN. Property owners should seek referrals/reviews and obtain detailed quotes to ensure the contractor can do the works required before engaging or paying any contractor.
If you are a contractor who would like to be included in the above list, please contact Council on the details below/at the bottom of this page.
If you have been issued with a Fire Abatement Notice and are unable to remove the fire risk within the prescribed period, please contact Council immediately by telephoning 03 6471 4700 to speak with a Compliance Officer.
Patrolled Areas
Council inspectors patrol the following areas, assessing properties for fire hazard risks:
- Gormanston
- Granville Harbour
- Lake Burbury Camp Ground
- Lettes Bay
- Linda
- Macquarie Heads Camp Ground
- Pieman Heads
- Queenstown
- Rosebery
- Strahan
- Thureau Hills Campground
- Trial Harbour
- Tullah
- Zeehan
The development of Patrolled Fire Hazard Management Areas will aid in minimising pockets of non-native vegetation within urban areas, particularly where there is vacant land (such as in Zeehan).
The patrolled areas include consideration of firefighting access routes, evacuation routes, TasWater reservoirs, pumping stations and treatment plants, and TasNetwork transformers in urban areas.
Property owners and occupiers should be aware of fire risks on their properties and take action to remove those risks before they reach the stage where an abatement notice may be issued. As a minimum, it is recommended to clear/abate fire risk before the start of the TFS Fire Permit Period and for the duration of that period.
Removing fire risks before the fire season will help keep our communities safe.
Frequently Asked Questions
If after assessment of the property, a fire risk is determined, an Abatement Notice is sent to the property owner.
Property owners are encouraged to take immediate steps to abate the fire risk, and communicate with Council about what they are doing.
If a notice is not complied with Council is then compelled to clear the fire risk on the owner’s behalf.
Where this occurs the property owner will be charged for this work.
The Abatement Notice will detail the process and options available however if you have any queries or concerns about the Abatement Notice you have received, please contact Council as soon as possible.
Do not ignore the Abatement Notice.
You must contact Council before the deadline and advise of your concerns about meeting the deadline.
All requests for extensions must be made in writing, addressed to the General Manager, West Coast Council (PO Box 63, Queenstown 7467), or emailed to planning@westcoast.tas.gov.au.
If you cannot clear the fire risk yourself, you may wish to consider seeking assistance from a contractor. Whilst Council cannot recommend any contractors, below is a list of contractors who have agreed to have their details listed on Council’s website for the public to contact about clearing fire risk:
Zeehan Hardware
- phone: (03) 6471 6201
- email: acc.zeehanhardware@outlook.com.au
Williams Earthmoving
- Please note that Williams Earthmoving does slashing with a 13 tonne or 6 tonne excavator. They do not offer a lawn mowing service.
- phone: 0417 582 908 or 6471 2295
- email: admin@williamsearthmoving.com.au
Tophs Handyman Services
- phone: 0429 650 070 or 0435 601 875
- email: tophshandymanservices@gmail.com
- website: https://www.tophshms.com/
Silver City Tree Care Pty Ltd
- phone: 0458 142 440 or 0477 684 558
- Email: troysilvercitytreecare@gmail.com
Strahan Garden Maintenance
- phone: 0402 693 572
- Email: icky.cleaning.strahan@gmail.com
The above list is not exhaustive. By including the above details, Council does not endorse these contractors above or before any others that may also be able to conduct appropriate works.
Before engaging any contractor, it is recommended property owners complete due diligence to ensure contractors hold appropriate insurances and licences and that the contractor has an ABN. Property owners should seek referrals/reviews and obtain detailed quotes to ensure the contractor can do the works required before engaging or paying any contractor.
If you are a contractor who would like to be included in the above list, please contact Council on the details below/at the bottom of this page.
If you have been issued with a Fire Abatement Notice and are unable to remove the fire risk within the prescribed period, please contact Council immediately by telephoning 03 6471 4700 to speak with a Compliance Officer.
It is always best to try and resolve these concerns with your neighbour first. If this is not working, then you may contact the Council, lodging a Request.
Following an inspection by Council, it will be determined if the fire risk is such that an abatement notice is required.
If action is required, it may take some time to progress from the notice to the works being done to reduce vegetation.
The Abatement Notice must be complied with in full to provide fire protection.
It is also necessary to continue to control the vegetation throughout the bushfire season, so work done in late spring may be required to be done again at intervals through until April.
Smoke from burning off in built-up areas is a public nuisance, particularly for sufferers of illness such as asthma.
Backyard burning is controlled by the state-wide Environment Management and Control (Distributed Atmospheric Emissions) Regulations 2007.
These regulations provide that vegetation may be burnt to reduce a fire hazard, but must be done in a reasonable manner so as not to cause a smoke nuisance to your neighbour.
You also need to check with the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) as to whether a fire permit is required, you should also follow any TFS guidelines to ensure that you are doing so in a way that is not going to create a fire risk in itself.
For these reasons it is recommended that in residential areas vegetation be removed rather than burnt.
Council’s Waste Transfer Stations accept green waste.
The Tasmania Biosecurity Act 2019 imposes legal obligations on land owners not spread ‘declared’ weeds.
For example, gorse, English broom, holly and blackberry are declared weeds. A full list of declared weeds is available from the following Department of Natural Resources and Environment website:
Practical guidance on preventing the spread of weeds is available in the Department’s “Weed and Disease Planning and Hygiene Guidelines – Preventing the Spread of Weeds and Disease in Tasmania” (March 2015). The document can be downloaded from the following website.