Grampians Region Bushfire

Management Planning

Phase One Engagement Summary

Background
Victoria is one of the most bushfire prone areas in the world. Bushfire risk is increasing as our population grows
and climate change results in more frequent, more severe weather conditions.
Strategic bushfire management planning brings together land and fire managers, communities and
stakeholders within each Victorian region, to develop a common understanding of bushfire risk across the
landscape and determine appropriate management strategies and actions to reduce that risk.

The strategic bushfire management planning process enables agencies and communities to set objectives and
devise strategies to achieve them. It will result in a common understanding of risk, and a common plan for
reducing it. This planning will inform more detailed operational level planning, including municipal fire
prevention, fire operations and readiness and response. We will be able to target our actions effectively and
efficiently to reduce risk, while maintaining and enhancing the things Victorians value.

Planning and managing the risk of bushfire in the Grampians region is an ongoing and shared responsibility.
The goal is to design a long-term plan that reflects what the communities value and want to protect in their
towns and recreational areas.

Engagement Process
Staff from the Grampians Region Bushfire Management Planning team in collaboration with social researchers
from the Melbourne University designed a survey to gather input from the community and stakeholders. This
information will help to inform a long-term bushfire management plan that takes account of community views
and prioritises community values.

The survey helps to better understand values and priorities for management actions within the Grampians
region communities. This data provides a starting point for selecting strategies that may be developed to
address bushfire risk. Specific strategies will be the subject of future rounds of engagement.

The survey was conducted on 3 September to 1 October 2018, where we asked the community to tell us what
they valued that could be affected by bushfire. Appendix 1 contains the full survey questions as shown on the
Engage Victoria website.

Engagement Approach

‘Values’ in bushfire management

An important starting point for incorporating values of the public in strategic bushfire decision‐making is clear
language for talking about values. We use the term ‘value’ in this survey to refer to ideas, objects and outcomes
that are important to people.

DELWP and University of Melbourne researchers previously developed a conceptual framework that brings
together concepts of values at three scales. Two of these concepts are used in this survey, valued entities
and core values. These are defined below:

Valued entities are mappable things like places and objects that people seek to protect from harm. These
entities may be similar to ‘assets’ identified in bushfire management, but valued entities are likely to have

1
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

different meaning and significance for different people. Priority given to the following valued entities was
measured in the survey:

o People/ homes/ health facilities: people including self, family members and community, their homes
and health facilities;
o Infrastructure: road access, water facilities, communication systems and electricity supply;
o Places of work/ education: workplaces including farms and businesses; tools and equipment for work;
schools and other places of education; welfare and support services;
o Heritage objects: family heirlooms; documents and records; old buildings and historic sites;
o Natural places/ wildlife: specific natural environments; flora and fauna, including rare or threatened
species;

Core values are more abstract ideas about what is important in people’s life overall including security, a
healthy environment and friends and family can be described as ‘core values’. These core values help to
explain why people value attributes of entities, and why they may favour stronger or weaker government or
community involvement in bushfire planning. Importance of the following core values was measured in the
survey:

o Benevolence: dependability and caring for those close to the person;

o Universalism social-altruistic: concern for equal opportunity and for society’s weak and vulnerable
members;
o Universalism biospheric: unity between people and nature; respect for, and protection of, nature;
o Self-direction: actions taken independently, on one’s own initiative;
o Security: safety of oneself and society generally in the face of any dangers.

Bushfire management objectives

DELWP staff identified objectives for bushfire risk management that incorporate a mix of government
objectives and values of the public. The survey measured the relevant priorities of members of the Grampians
community for these objectives. These objectives are:
o Protect farming land from bushfire
o Protect areas in the region where tourists like to visit
o Protect major infrastructure e.g. power lines, phone lines, roads etc. from bushfire
o Protecting indigenous cultural heritage sites and areas
o Protect peoples’ life from bushfire
o The bush should be managed in a way that promotes a healthy population of plants and animals
o Protect water supply facilities and the quality of drinking water
o Protect areas where old historical buildings and other historical sites exist
o Protect main roads leading in and out of towns from bushfire
o Protect natural areas where animals and plants are found
o Protect forestry coups from bushfire
o Protect wineries and wine growing areas from bushfire

2
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

Promotion
The survey was promoted through a variety of channels including:
o DELWP Media releases
o Shared Facebook sites
o E-mails to stakeholders and various interest groups
o Emails to all our partner agencies for distribution to our Multi-agency networks including Parks Victoria
(PV), Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Local Government Authorities (LGA’s) for distribution to various
community groups.
o Video shared on social media
o Word-of-mouth at local community events
o Telephone calls

Participants
There were one hundred and twelve valid responses received. Majority of the survey responses were by
people who lived in the region.

More than 60 percent of people

who responded had previous
experience of bushfire in the area.

Engagement Outcomes
The analysis of the survey identified what participants valued:
Relative importance of core values

o Benevolence (caring for those close to the person) is the most important core value of all respondents.
o Respondents in different areas in the region vary in the relative importance of Universalism-biospheric
(respect for and protection of nature). For respondents in the West of the region this is lower in
importance than most other core values, while for respondents in and around the Grampians National
Park biospherism is almost as important as Benevolence.
o Regions vary in the relative importance of Security and Self-direction, with respondents rating Self-
direction higher in and around the Grampians National Park and Eastern parts of the region, and
Security higher in the Central part of the region (eg. Ballarat, Beaufort and Skipton).

3
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

Biospheric

Security

Benevolence
Core value importance

Self-direction

Social-altruistic

1 2 3 4 5

1 = Not Important 2 = Somewhat Important 3 = Quite Important 4 = Very Important 5 = Extremely Important

Relative priority for protecting valued entities

o Relative priority of valued entities among respondents is similar across the region, with
People/homes/health facilities and infrastructure rated a higher priority than other valued entities.

People/ homes/ hospitals

Natural places/ wildlife

Places of work/ education

Priority of valued entities

Infrastructure

Heritage objects

0 1 2 3 4 5

1 = Not Important 2 = Somewhat Important 3 = Quite Important 4 = Very Important 5 = Extremely Important

4
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

Relative priority of management objectives:

o Protecting human life is first priority for all respondents.

o Management of infrastructure (major infrastructure, water supply and main roads) is next highest priority
in all parts of the region, consistent with the priorities given to valued entities.
o The bush managed for plants and animals has a similar priority to infrastructure for respondents in all
regions, except in the Eastern part of the region, where it has a lower priority.
o In all parts of the region, protecting farming land has a higher priority for respondents than protecting
the other productive uses of logging coupes and wineries, while tourist areas are somewhere in
between.

Farming land
Tourist areas
Major infrastructure
Indigenous sites
Human life
Plants/animals
Water supply Priority of management objectives

Historic sites
Main roads
Natural areas
Forestry coupes
Wineries

0 1 2 3 4 5

1 = Not Important 2 = Somewhat Important 3 = Quite Important 4 = Very Important 5 = Extremely Important

Next Steps

Strategy options are being developed from the regional objectives from now until January 2019.
We will then seek feedback on our strategy options through the Engage Victoria website from 14 January to
11 February 2019.

This information will feed into our proposed final strategies, which will be open for feedback from 20 May to 3
June 2019. Strategies will be finalised and made available in mid-2019.

5
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

Appendix 1: Survey

6
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

7
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

8
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

9
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

10
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

11
Grampians Region Bushfire
Management Planning
Phase One Engagement Summary

12