The ACT government is reconsidering plans to build aged care accommodation in an area hit by the 2003 bushfires and formally identified as bushfire prone land.
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The area has been identified as an ember zone since the first version of the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan was developed in 2009. The same area was the site of widespread devastation in the 2003 bushfires.
The proposed development on the urban fringe in Chapman was included in the 2014-15 ACT Budget papers, however the Strategic Bushfire Management Plan tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly this week would not permit the development.
"Developments that will concentrate members of the community at high risk from bushfire in declared BPAs (Bushfire Prone Areas) is not permissible. They may, however, be approved by the ESA in limited circumstance with special conditions," the plan states.
Schools, hospitals, nursing homes, aged care facilities and retirement villages, among others, are included in these developments, termed Special Fire Protection Developments.
Specific details of the proposed aged-care facility were outlined in a letter from the ACT Economic Development Directorate to residents last month, causing concern within parts of the community.
The letter said the block, which is now an urban park, would be released to the market by tender in December. It said the site was zoned for community use, and there were plans for an aged care facility with about 60 dwellings and the possibility of a four-storey development, or boutique retirement village with a maximum of 45 dwellings.
Council on the Ageing executive director Paul Flint questioned whether the facility would have the right procedures to minimise the risks and potential issues caused to residents.
"We'd prefer there was no fire, and basically we'd prefer it wasn't there ... but the issue has been to find suitable sites," Mr Flint said.
ACT Minister for Economic Development Andrew Barr said the site had been identified for future urban development, and standard assessments would determine its most appropriate land use.
"The Strategic Bushfire Management Plan has highlighted issues related to the potential development of the block and consideration is being given to possible uses other than for retirement and aged care accommodation," Mr Barr said.
A spokesperson for the ACT Emergency Services Agency said any approval for developments that housed vulnerable people might have to consider higher construction standards or other measures required.
"Currently, there is no requirement for existing dwellings on the urban edge to be constructed to bushfire protection standards. If requirements for building standards are changed as proposed, it would only apply to significant renovations or new construction," the spokesperson said.
"At this stage it is not proposed that the standards would apply retrospectively to existing dwellings. Irrespective of whether bushfire protection provisions are introduced in the future, the ESA will continue to provide advice to owners or managers with these types of facilities to reduce the level of bushfire risk."
