Esperance orders mandatory firebreaks before October fire season

The Shire of Esperance has served its first and final Fire Hazard Reduction Notice 2026/2027 on every landowner and occupier within the shire, imposing mandatory firebreak and fuel-load requirements ahead of the coming fire season. Issued under section 33 of the Bush Fires Act 1954, the notice obliges all owners and occupiers to clear firebreaks or take equivalent measures before 9 October 2026 and to maintain them up to and including 31 March 2027. The notice is published in the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 115 of 8 September 2026 (reference LG501).

Legal obligations and deadlines

The notice is a “first and final” instrument, meaning it is the only warning landowners will receive before compliance is enforced. It applies to every property in the shire’s district, and the requirements differ according to how the land is zoned.

• Town sites (residential, industrial and commercial): land of 2,000 m² or less must be kept in a parkland-cleared state; larger blocks need an Asset Protection Zone, grass kept to a maximum height of 100 mm, and a 4-metre-wide firebreak inside all external boundaries.
• Rural residential and small holdings: a 4-metre-wide bare-earth or mulched firebreak with 5-metre vertical clearance, parkland clearing of open paddocks, and a 4-metre firebreak around fuel tanks, sheds, gas cylinders and within 6 metres of haystacks.
• Rural areas: a 6-metre-wide and 5-metre vertical clearance firebreak immediately inside all external boundaries, with the same standard where uncleared land abuts the boundary.

Variation requests

Landowners who find the standard requirements impractical because of site-specific topography, environmentally sensitive areas or particular development conditions may apply in writing to the shire for a variation. Applications must be lodged before 24 September of each year, and the shire may approve variations for either a one- or three-year period. Variation forms are available on the shire’s website, and fees apply.

What the notice covers

The town-site requirements apply to land zoned within the town sites of Bandy Creek, Cascade, Castletown, Chadwick, Condingup, Coomalidbidgup, Esperance, Gibson, Grass Patch, Nulsen, Salmon Gums, Scaddan, Sinclair and West Beach. The rural residential and small-holding provisions cover the localities of Bandy Creek, Chadwick, Gibson, Monjingup, Myrup, Pink Lake, Shark Lake and Windabout.

Where a Bushfire Management Plan approved by the council relates to a property, owners may clear firebreaks and take measures in accordance with that plan as an alternative to the standard requirements. Driveways must be cleared to a minimum of 4 metres wide and 5 metres high to give unrestricted access to emergency service vehicles, and a low-fuel zone must be maintained around power infrastructure such as meter boxes and underground power domes.

Why it matters

With the notice published in early September, Esperance landowners have barely a month to bring their properties into compliance before the 9 October deadline, and the obligations run through the entire summer fire season until the end of March 2027. Because this is a first and final notice, there is no second warning: every owner and occupier in the shire is expected to act now, and those who cannot meet the standard requirements must seek a variation before the 24 September cut-off. The measure is designed to slow the spread of any bush fire and to give emergency services clear, unobstructed access across the shire’s town sites, rural holdings and farmland.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 115, 8 September 2026, Local Government section, p. 1878 (official reference: LG501).