East Gippslanders who have lost their homes or businesses due to bushfires can now build temporary residential or commercial accommodation on their land without a planning permit, subject to safety requirements.

On Wednesday, the State Government announced new statewide planning changes come into effect immediately.

East Gippsland Rotary Fire Aid chair, Pearl Findlay-James, who has advocated extensively for a change in legislation to allow quicker response to support fire-affected people, welcomed the news.

“It is a huge step forward in the recovery process,” she said.

“It is a shame it has taken so long to eventuate and taken a great deal of time lobbying to get to this point.

“I thank Tim Bull, Russell Northe, Melina Bath and Harriet Shing for their support and assistance in this matter.”

East Gippsland Shire Council mayor, Cr John White, has also welcomed the announcement, particularly the commitment to support the community through the rebuilding process.

“We have been advocating for such planning exemptions to ease the burden on our community,” Cr White said.

“It’s particularly pleasing that the government will be undertaking the preliminary assessments that otherwise each landowner would need to pay for. This includes a report to determine the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) based on the surrounding environment which is needed to inform the design of the home.”

Cr White said council and its planning and recovery teams look forward to continuing to work with the State Government to identify further opportunities to make rebuilding as simple as possible.

Council will also work closely with Bushfire Recovery Victoria in the delivery of the one-stop shops for planning and other rebuilding support.

Council suggests for temporary dwellings, that residents check in with council’s planning team. The new provisions set aside the requirements for a full planning permit for temporary buildings, but the provisions still set out some planning consents that need to be provided. Council said it wants to work with individuals to make this as easy as possible for landowners.

Minister for Planning, Richard Wynne, said the planning changes allow bushfire-affected people to consider and progress interim accommodation options while further assessments are undertaken to determine the suitability of a permanent rebuild.

“Victorians who have lost their homes have already been through so much, and we want to make things easier for them as they continue with recovery and rebuilding,” Mr Wynne said.

“These new changes are about clearing a path through the planning process and providing more certainty for people who are making big decisions.”

In addition to the planning exemption and specialist advice, the government will undertake preliminary bushfire hazard assessments and environmental assessments for affected properties.

These assessments will inform property owners about development constraints and will assist in facilitating rebuilding. They can ordinarily cost property owners up to $3000.

The planning exemptions will enable the occupation of temporary accommodation for a maximum of three years after a bushfire giving people time to transition to permanent accommodation.

Mrs Findlay-James said East Gippsland Rotary Fire Aid has started to deliver shipping containers to allow bushfire-affected people to store items that avoided the fires.

“The first round of the Rotary Fire Aid shipping containers were delivered to Sarsfield last Thursday and containers continued to be delivered over the long weekend. The haulage company were keen to assist the survivors and gave up their long weekend to get the containers out,” she said.

“The containers will continue to be delivered over the coming weeks. All the containers have been purchased by the Rotary Club of Melbourne District 9800 as their contribution to the bushfire relief.

“East Gippsland Rotary Fire Aid have committed to fund the haulage of the first 100 containers and we’re looking for support to fund the remaining 100 containers.”

IMAGE: Bushfire survivor, Kaelen De Lany, had a shipping container delivered to her property by Allan Cutler, of A-Z Smart Movers Haulage, with the help of John Fallon and Pearl Findlay-James, of East Gippsland Rotary Fire Aid. It was the first of the Rotary Fire Aid shipping containers to be delivered to Sarsfield last week as a gift from Rotary District 9800 Melbourne, to assist in the recovery program driven by the fire aid committee. (PS)