Central Goldfields Shire Council has adopted the 2021 / 2022 Municipal Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan (NSP Plan).
A Neighbourhood Safer Place is a place of last resort when all other bushfire plans have failed.
The NSP Plan follows the annual review undertaken by Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Council in accordance with the requirements of the Emergency Services Legislation Amendment Act 2009 (which amends the Emergency Management Act 1986) and the Country Fire Authority Act 1958.
The Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan identifies that there are five designated Neighbourhood Safer Places (Places of Last Resort) in Central Goldfields Shire Council municipality as follows:
- Talbot, - Pioneer Reserve (Grounds Only) - (Corner of Fyffe and Scandinavian Crescent,), Crown Land – Council Committee of Management;
- Maryborough, - Princes Park (Oval Only) Precinct/Jubilee Oval Complex - (as defined by Park Road, Burns Street, Holyrood Street and Earl Street), Crown Land – Council Committee of Management; and
- Maryborough - Pascoe Reserve ((Oval Only) - (Gillies Street), which is Council owned land.
- Dunolly – Gordon Garden Reserve (Grounds Only) Crown Land – Council Committee of Management
- Carisbrook – Market Reserve (Grounds Only) – Adjacent to Green, Birch, Powlett, & Urquhart streets, which is Crown Land – Council Committee of Management.
Council's Emergency Management Coordinator Belinda McKnight states "the community must know that NSP's are:
- Locations that may provide some protection from direct flame and heat from a fire, but they do not guarantee safety.
- Not an alternative to planning to leave early or to stay and defend your property; they are a place of last resort if all other fire plans have failed.
- An existing location and not a purpose-built, fire-proof structure. It is important to know that many NSPs are simply a clearing that provides separation distance from the bushfire hazard (e.g. forest).
- Not to be confused with Community Fire Refuges, Relief Centres, Recovery Centres or Assembly Areas, each of which have a different and specific purpose.
- Not an appropriate destination when leaving the area early.
- Not a place of shelter from other types of emergencies (e.g. to escape rising floodwaters or severe weather events).''
