Toowoomba Region Bushfire Risk Analysis
Toowoomba Regional Council and Meridian Urban
The detailed analysis undertaken by Toowoomba Region Council and its consultant explored the current and future bushfire risk context specific to the Toowoomba region, providing key insights into the social, built environment, infrastructure, natural environment and economic risk profiles relating to current and future bushfire hazard. The judges were impressed with the strategic and ‘placed-based’ approach to understanding current and future risks and tailoring planning responses to the risk profile and values unique to each community.
The judging panel considered the inclusion of future fire weather implications of climate change into the development of the Toowoomba Region Bushfire Risk Analysis to represent an innovative and benchmark planning approach that addresses one of the most devastating hazards to people, property and the natural environment.
The work undertaken to support this analysis advances the purpose of the State Planning Policy and provides a best practice example of risk informed land use policy development and tools that integrate bushfire resilience. Toowoomba Regional Council has provided a clear link between the risk assessment outcomes and land use and development policy, through to individual assessments that respond to existing and future risks.
The judging panel was impressed with the innovative use of heat mapping which presents an alternative visualisation tool that facilitates the opportunity for greater community understanding and awareness of the technical risk factors affecting an area. Recognising the increasing bushfire risk profile of the region over coming decades, the analysis provides the blueprint and tools to proactively position the region to adapt to changing fire weather by ensuring land use planning approaches are responsive to bushfire hazard risk under current and future climate influenced conditions.
The judges were impressed with Toowoomba Region Council’s approach in using this planning study to frontload the consideration of bushfire risk exposure, as an input to settlement policy, strategic planning and growth management, allowing for risk informed decision making as part of plan-making processes.