The Shire of Harvey declares harvest and vehicle movement ban after bushfire fears and low volunteer numbers

Threats of a bushfire have led to a Shire-wide ban across Harvey on all harvesting operations, roadworks and certain vehicle use over the next four days. High temperatures and windy conditions saw the implementation of a harvest and vehicle movement ban — as of 12pm today— throughout the Shire of Harvey. The ban restricts the use of engines, vehicles, plant or machinery likely to cause a bushfire. The rules also restrict the use of harvesting operations, roadworks and any hot works, such as welding, grinding or heating in the open air. The ban is in place from 8am to 6pm until Sunday. Shire chief bushfire control officer Michael Papalia said weather conditions such as temperature, wind and humidity played a factor in the probability of a bush fire occurring and the ban was put in place as a precaution due to low volunteer numbers as a result of the school holiday period and COVID. “This is the last week of school holidays and it tends to be the same issue, people are away therefore we have less (people) available, we also have reduced numbers because of COVID-19 vaccination requirements,” he said. “Of all the people the Shire had on their books, just over 50 per cent supplied their vaccination information which means we are down on our turnout numbers.” Mr Papalia said residents should use a “common sense” approach to the safety protocols and if they are doubtful of how bushfire safe an activity is, it should just be avoided entirely. “This really affects mainly farmers but it also applies to residential areas, if everybody does the right thing then we won’t have a big bushfire and everybody will remain safe.” The ban was also in place from December 24 to 27 last year and Mr Papalia said most residents were happy to oblige by the rules but the holiday period means a lack of volunteers. “Very seldom do we get complaints, people understand that this has been put in place to protect their properties,” he said. “We had a movement ban over Christmas and there was a lot of people away which makes trying to get enough people to man up our unit very difficult.” Activities such as the movement of vehicles on gazetted roads and the operation of a vehicle if it is for the prevention of immediate or serious risk to the health or safety of a person or livestock are still permitted. For more information on fire bans and bushfire warnings visit the Department of Fire and Emergency Services website.