Page 973 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2005

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(2) bushfire control operations, these personnel are under the command and control of the rural fire service, but they remain employees of these agencies, and government land managers maintain a duty of care for their employees. It is important to ensure that personnel undertaking fire-fighting duties including Urgent Duty Driving (UDD), are appropriately trained and work in accordance with safe work practice. This includes understanding and accounting for the limitation of fire-fighting vehicles designed for off-road situations, and having the skills and correct mental attitude to undertake UDD. Training and assessments undertaken are being undertaken to ensure that personnel responding to rural fires meet these requirements, and those of the ACT Rural Fire Service (ACT RFS). Land Managers are working closely with the ACT RFS to refine existing training and operational procedures;

B) Personnel with requisite skills and attitude necessary to undertake UDD will be permitted to respond to bushfires in accordance with the ACT RFS Standard Operating Procedure being developed for this activity;

C) Parks and Forests Brigade personnel can proceed immediately to bushfires on request from ComCen. It is worth noting the land management personnel are on a bushfire roster that enables them to respond immediately when requested to do so during duty periods;

(3) Selected land management personnel with appropriate experience are currently undertaking formal training and assessment so that they can safely work in accordance with the ACT RFS Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) covering UDD. The SOP is currently being reviewed by the ACT RFS with input from land managers.

(4) No, but several emergency authorities and registered training organisations offer training in driving under operational conditions and risk perception and management to ensure that personnel have appropriate skills, knowledge, competencies and attitude to undertake these activities.

(5) For ESA to respond;

(6) No, not in the 2004-05 Bushfire Season.

Development—dual occupancies
(Question No 211)

Mr Seselja asked the Minister for Planning, upon notice, on 17 February 2005:

(1) Further to the reply to question on notice No 63, how is it possible that in 2002-03 there were 97 applications lodged for dual occupancy but 120 dual occupancies approved;

(2) Are the figures provided in the reply to question on notice No 63 correct; if so, how can there be more approvals than there are development applications.

Mr Corbell: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:

(1) The figures for the number of applications lodged in a year will almost always be different to the number of applications approved in a year. Because of the significant fluctuations in lodgement of DAs month to month it is not unusual for the number of applications received in a year to vary from the number of applications approved in a year. Example: A number of the dual occupancies applications approved in the 2002/03 financial year could have been lodged in the 2001/02 financial year.


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