53bb5d173cd432be755544737b13482d
© 2024 The Weekly SOURCE

Intense media coverage of villages in fire prone areas not telling the full story

1 min read

The Fairfax media has been extending its coverage of the Victorian fires by drawing in an old dispute in the northern suburbs of Sydney where villages are being developed beside national parks. While Fairfax argues that village residents are endangered because of the isolated locations, usually with a single lane road access, they do not cover the fact that local ageing residents want village accommodation to stay close to their families but the local councils will not zone land except for on the fringes of the community - namely adjacent to bushland. Nor does Fairfax give credit to the fact that residents are, by law, independent and capable of exiting the area in an emergency. Additionally residents have the village management to assist in their evacuation. The result has been considerable long-term damage to the sales effort of several villages.