CSIRO to oversee Ginninderry bushfire management

Ginninderry is set to develop 11,500 new homes, with about 5000 of those across the border in the new suburb of Parkwood.

Critics have previously raised concerns about the bushfire management strategy at Ginninderry, especially at Parkwood.

They feared the steep slopes surrounding future homes created favourable conditions for intense blazes.

The developer of Ginninderry is Riverview, a joint venture between the ACT government and local developers the Corkhill Brothers.

A Riverview spokeswoman said CSIRO's involvement would not see a review or changes to Ginninderry's bushfire management plans.

According to a media release, CSIRO will "ensure best practice bushfire management is maintained for all stages of the Ginninderry project".

Instead, the spokeswoman said as bushfire management standards evolved, "the contribution from CSIRO will assist this process and lead to even better outcomes".

"The collaboration recognises that whilst bushfire management standards set by ACT and NSW agencies are [a] robust regulatory minimum, there is always scope to improve on or exceed these standards," the spokeswoman said.

"This is particularly the case at Ginninderry, where the long 40-year timeframe of the project will provide a pioneering model for research studies."

CSIRO's research will be headed by its Bushfire Adaptation team's bushfire expert Justin Leonard. It will look at measures for the protection of Ginninderry's urban areas and its conservation corridor.

Mr Leonard led research at the site of the 2018 Tathra bushfire, which burned about 1250 hectares and destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes.

"Our team is excited to use this collaborative opportunity ... to push the boundaries of science integration directly into urban design outcomes and community adaptation to bushfire," Mr Leonard said.

"We will be working closely with the Ginninderry project team to design approaches that draw upon current understanding of building and infrastructure responses to bushfire. This will give us an evidence base to support performance-based design."