Ex-volunteer firey Ruth Boyd persists in campaign to question Shire of Augusta-Margaret River bush clearing

The Shire of Augusta-Margaret River has some tough questions to answer as a quiet community campaign against “excessive” firebreaks ramps up. Keen council watcher Ruth Boyd has led the charge in recent months, bombing Shire officers as well as its Bushfire Advisory Committee with questions picking apart the rationale for 3m firebreaks seen as excessive by many residents who have argued the move — standard practice now in many local government areas, though subject to flak and a moratorium at the City of Busselton — is at odds with the Shire’s commitment to biodiversity. Ms Boyd resigned her position with Wallcliffe Volunteer Bushfire Brigade after 30 years to avoid clashing with a Shire ban on volunteer firefighters speaking out, reporting she and many volunteers as well as rural residents believed they were unlikely to access firebreaks to defend properties in thick bush anyway, and the cost as well as ecological effects of tree-removal was devastating. Ms Boyd fronted last week’s council meeting in her latest effort to force a rethink, concerned her previous questions to the BFAC failed to make it into the minutes of past meetings. And although she reported Shire officers rejected her estimate that 75ha in high-value bush across the region would be cleared to comply with firebreak notices, she called on the Shire to offer an accurate measurement as well as consider irregularities in its own responses to her inquiries. “Considering that goal number one of our Local Planning Strategy 2036 is ‘valuing, protecting and enhancing the natural environment’,” she said. “No one has actually calculated how much of this valuable remnant vegetation is about to be cleared, and that the Shire appears to be completely misinformed about the width of its own fire appliances. “Would it not be prudent to issue an immediate moratorium on compliance … until an independent review can be completed?” Ms Boyd also rejected a Shire statement there was “not a single appliance in the Shire’s fleet that is below 2m in width”. Toyota Landcruiser light tankers measured less than 1.8m in width and 14 of them comprised 50 per cent of the volunteer bushfire brigade fleet, Ms Boyd said. A Shire spokesperson told the Times meeting minutes were “not a verbatim record of meetings”. “There have been no motions or decisions seeking a review of the firebreak notice in the last four years, although submissions were invited from BFAC delegates in 2021 and 11 were received from members of the Wallcliffe VBFB,” the Shire said. “But no submission was received from the brigade delegate on behalf of the brigade. “These submissions were communicated to council in a workshop in July 2021.” In response to Ms Boyd’s previous queries, a Shire spokesperson said variations and avoiding “notable vegetation” meant “significantly less” than 75ha would be cleared under Shire compliance. “To the best of our knowledge, there have been no such situations which have resulted in the loss of mature trees,” the Shire said.