More than $7.3 million in bushfire management funding assistance will be delivered to 17 regional local governments and agencies to address bushfire threats in their local communities.
$3.3 million will be allocated to regional local governments to carry out more than 410 bushfire mitigation treatments including planned burns, weed control, mechanical clearing, fire breaks and access roads.
Eligible regional local governments will be provided with $500,000 of funding later in the year.
Of the 17 local Governments York will receive $257,200, Chittering will receive $19,500 and Beverley will received $53,900.
Also announced was a further $1.2 million under the Department of Fire and Emergency Service’s new Rural Fire Division to treat bushfire risks on unallocated Crown land.
This is the first time that DFES has formally moved into preventative measures and is part of a $35 million package over four years to treat bushfire risks on unallocated Crown land.
The expenditure will be spread throughout the State and DFES regional officers will work with partners on a range of activities, including planned burning, weed control, mulching and fire breaks.
Emergency Services Minister Francis Logan said the Government is putting to the side whose responsibility mitigating those bushfire risks may be and simply getting on with the job of trying to improve community safety.
“But we must always remember that fire is a part of the Western Australia landscape, and we must all play a role including local landowners, in trying to reduce the chances of inevitable fires becoming unmanageable,” he said.