FRUSTRATED residents are pushing for council to deal with overgrown and neglected land, amid concerns of a high fire risk on the Southern Moreton Bay Islands.
Moreton Bay Combined Islands Association chairman Greg Hartay-Szabo said they would march to council headquarters before addressing councillors at the next general meeting on January 25.
The move comes after three blazes on Russell Island threatened more than 60 homes and scorched about 150 hectares in December.
Mr Hartay-Szabo, who lives on Russell Island, said they wanted to pressure council into improving fire risk management.
“We saw fire burning a few metres away from our properties,” he said.
“From our point of view, we wish to see more improvement. The fire prevention plans need to be dramatically updated and more duty of care actually displayed in their plans to reflect the needs of these residents in Moreton Bay.”
Within days of the fires Mr Hartay-Szabo set up a Facebook group calling on people to document what they believe were fire hazards on the SMBIs.
More than 130 people had joined the group at the time of going to press.
A spokesman for Redland City Council said the council would order an independent review of the city’s fire mitigation program and the Inspector-General of Emergency Management was conducting a full review of council’s disaster planning.
“While there have been no homes or lives lost in the past two major fire events – North Stradbroke Island and Russell Island – council is committed to being at the forefront of disaster management,” the spokesman said.
Mr Hartay-Szabo said quicker action was needed to address community concerns about overgrowth.
While some contributors to the Facebook group posted concerns about the council’s dismissal of requests for help to clear overgrown properties, a council spokesman said all complaints were taken seriously.
“Anyone can lodge a complaint about any property,” he said. “Officers will investigate each complaint to determine if the property is deemed overgrown and, if so, request the property owner to remediate.”
The spokesman said they received 229 Russell Island overgrowth-related complaints in the past financial year, with 158 blocks cleared by owners following council’s requests to remediate. Costs were recovered from the owners of 11 blocks, following their council organised clearance.
The spokesman said a blanket Vegetation Protection Order covering the SMBIs meant property owners could be required to remove restricted invasive plants under biosecurity legislation; slash, mow or brush-cut grass and create a three metre risk reduction zone along a boundary to establish or maintain a fire break.
