Consultation on fire plans now closed

We’re rolling out new fire plans across the country, and as part of this, we recently held a formal six-week consultation, which closed on 9 June.

We’re now reviewing all submissions received, and following this, relevant amendments will be made to the fire plans, before these are published on 30 July 2021.

These new fire plans differ from previous fire plans made under the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977, which included information about response and resourcing activities, including contact information for various contracted services. This information is now captured separately in other planning processes or documents.

Background

A fire plan outlines policies and procedures for the management of public safety and risks relating to fire. Each fire plan outlines things like declaring the beginning and end of fire seasons, prohibiting and restricting fire use, and the issuing of fire permits.

Fire plans provide increased transparency to the public about how Fire and Emergency’s fire control powers are used. When developing fire plans, Fire and Emergency carefully considers the fire-risk profile and conditions relevant to each plan.

Fire plans now include information on things like demographics and environmental factors that are relevant to our work to reduce risks from fire and to manage the potential impacts if one occurs. This information helps Fire and Emergency to deliver on the Reduction component of the 4R’s of Emergency Management.

Contact

If you have any questions on the fire plans project, please email fireplans@fireandemergency.nz.