Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) undertakes regular biannual reviews of Bushfire Prone Areas (BPA) and the Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO). These important changes make new homes, our communities and the environment safer and more resilient to bushfire. 

If you are building in an area and you or the property owner believes that the bushfire hazard to the property no longer exists, you can request a review. For example: if a plantation has been harvested and returned permanently to pasture. 

The mapping criteria were developed in partnership with the CFA and CSIRO as part of the Victorian Government’s commitment to implement all the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommendations. The updated criteria were applied in consultation with local councils. 

DELWP is working with industry to identify areas for review of the BPA and BMO mapping. The department has committed to working with local councils, emergency services and other key stakeholders to ensure the map is accurate and as up to date as possible.  

A timeline is now available on Planning Victoria’s building in bushfire-prone areas web page, as is a set of FAQs for lot owners in a BPA. Builders or owners should clear sites of the vegetation hazard before site visits are arranged. 

If you are a developer, owner or builder who would like to request a BPA or BMO review, please request a review via email at [email protected] by COB 8 April 2022.