How to Obtain Permits

Burning permits can be obtained from the Shire Office if you live in town, or from your local Bushfire Control Officer if you live in other areas of the Shire.

Important Fire Dates

Firebreaks - last day - 25 October each year. Maintain until 14 March each year.

Burning Permits Required

Extensions to restricted burning times may be approved each year (they are advertised in local newspapers).

Prohibited Burning Periods

Very High/Extreme Fire Danger Burning Prohibited

No burning whatsoever is permitted on days of Very High or Extreme fire danger or where wind speed exceeds 30 km/hour, including incinerators, on prohibited burning periods of very high or extreme fire danger, except for gas appliances or: In a place set aside by a land development authority, including Councils, for the purpose and where that authority has erected a sign designating the area as one in which a gas/electric appliance may be used on days of very high or extreme fire danger forecast. The following fire precautions and prohibitions shall be observed by any person involved in performing any of the following activity:

1. cooking or camp fires in open air (other than established home barbecues) are prohibited during the prohibited burning time without written permission from the Council or its authorised officer;
2. the use of angle grinders and metal cutting/welding equipment is prohibited out of doors in very high or extreme fire danger during the prohibited burning time;
3. when angle grinders and metal cutting/welding equipment is being used between 1 September and 31 May each year there shall be a minimum 5 kilogram fire extinguisher or a fire fighting unit in working order with a minimum of 100 litres of water immediately adjacent to the work area;
4. when harvesting is in progress owners/occupiers of land shall have a mobile fire-fighting unit in working order with a minimum of 400 litres of water in or immediately adjacent to the paddock being harvested; and
5. all headers operating in standing crop or stubble paddocks shall carry an operational fire extinguisher of not less than 9 litre capacity;
6. the operation of swathers, stubble balers, slashers, mechanically operated dry grass cutters, chains and portable sawmills during restricted and prohibited burning times is subject to the same fire fighting equipment requirements as for harvesting; and
7. harvesting within the Shire of York is permitted on Sundays and Public Holidays except for Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Boxing Day, unless otherwise advertised by the Council by notice in a newspaper circulating within the district.

Harvest bans and vehicle movement bans are broadcast daily on 6AM and ABC.

Firebreaks

On or before 25 October each year you MUST take firebreak precautions as shown below and these must be MAINTAINED up to and including 14 March the following year. (Penalties apply). The purpose is to stop fires from spreading, to allow entry for firefighting vehicles and to provide a break from which a control fire can be lit. If a firebreak is impractical along your boundary for environmental or other reasons, notify the Shire Council by 10 October to obtain permission for firebreak in an alternative position or of a different nature.

Land within a townsite up to 1020m² must be cleared of all inflammable material. Land within a townsite from 1020m² up to 4000m² must have a firebreak 2.1 metres wide and be slashed or hazard reduced to ensure inflammable materials are less than 150mm high. Land within a townsite over 4000m² must have 2.1 metres wide firebreaks, and around all buildings, fuel and haystacks. Rural land up to 300ha must have 2.1 metres wide firebreaks, and around all buildings, fuel and haystacks. Council's aim is hazard reduction on all properties within the Shire. Please contact Mike Scott at the Shire Office for assistance.

Garden Refuse and Rubbish

Small heaps (up to 1 cubic metre) of garden refuse may be burnt on the ground between 6.00pm and 11.00pm BUT NOT DURING VERY HIGH OR EXTREME FIRE DANGER PERIODS. A 2 metre wide firebreak must be cleared around the fire site and at least one able-bodied person is in attendance at all times with adequate water supply to control the spread of fire.