The rules surrounding hazard reduction and burn-offs on private land have often been the subject of confusion among landholders.
But many are saying the details of what can and cannot be done have been made much clearer this year, in the lead-up to the present fire danger season.
While community education surrounding hazard reduction was a key focus of the state government's response to the Keelty bushfire review, Kangaroo Island local recovery coordinator Rob Manton said it was good to see some tangible outcomes of the response.
Mr Manton said traditionally, there had been some hesitancy among locals about vegetation clearance restrictions on private land, but the development of a two-page fact sheet by the state government, Country Fire Service and Native Vegetation Council had been "a big help" to locals.
"Farmers and property owners are not legislators, and they don't spend a lot of time reading or trying to understand complex legislation, so we need easily-accessible and understandable information," he said.
We had planned to not have a blade of grass around our farm infrastructure, but it has been so hard to keep on top of this year because of the good season, the grass just keeps on growing.
- MICHAEL KOWALD
The fact sheet specifies landholders are able to clear any vegetation within 10 metres of their home, any vegetation except for large trees between 10-20m of their home, and five metres from fence lines, all without NVC or CFS approval.
Environment Minister David Speirs recognised the importance of prescribed burns on both public and private lands, with the National Parks and Wildlife Service SA carrying out 43 controlled burn-offs on public and private land this year, reducing bushfire risk across more than 1100 hectares.
Of these burns, 30 were carried out in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges - a region that opposition environment spokesperson Susan Close said was a priority for bushfire preparation.
"Part of the Adelaide Hills burnt considerably last summer, but not into the very heavily-populated area. I'm concerned every summer that we'll return to an Ash Wednesday kind of experience," she said.
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Mount Torrens dairyfarmer Michael Kowald, who was affected by the Cudlee Creek fire in December last year, said many people in his area had "upped the ante" on vegetation clearance - although good seasonal conditions had made the process difficult.
"We had planned to not have a blade of grass around our farm infrastructure, but it has been so hard to keep on top of this year because of the good season, the grass just keeps on growing," he said.
Mr Kowald said bushfire education delivered by the CFS had been good this year, but he would have liked to see industry-specific groups provide more guidance.
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