Burning Off and Burning Permits

Burning off generally

Burning can cause a nuisance to neighbours and a serious health problem to people suffering from respiratory conditions such as asthma. Residents are urged to consider suitable alternatives before burning such as mulching, use of Council’s green waste collection service or transfer to Council’s landfill site. Penalties for illegal burning include a $250 on the spot fine or up to $5,000 if legal action is taken.

Fact Sheets:

• Important Information About Burning on Land (PDF 34kB)

To minimise the effects of smoke, permits to burn must be obtained from the City’s Health Service before burning on residential land from 01 June to 30 September each year.

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Burning permits

Burning permits are issued by the City's Health Services Department during 1 June till 30th September each year, in an attempt to reduce the amount of backyard burning to improve air quality for residences in the area. This applies only to residentially zoned properties that are greater than 1200m². During this period, rurally zoned properties are not required to obtain permits. General conditions of burning off (as in 'Burning off generally' section above) still apply.

For burning permits between 1 October to 30 November and 1 April to 31 May inclusive visit the Ranger Services section of the website.

Applicants are required to fill out an application for a burning permit form and submit this to the Health Services Department for assessment. There is no fee charged for this service and assessment will be based on the necessity to burn for an individual property (e.g if there are other means of disposal such as the tip, if the site is too difficult to take garden waste to verge for greenwaste collection etc). If it is considered that the waste can be disposed of by other means, you will not be issued with a burning permit and will be required to dispose of the waste by another means.

Please ensure that you understand the requirements and obtain a permit from this department if you wish to burn during this period. It is an offence to burn off without a permit and there is a penalty of $250 for this offence. The questions on the application form relate to the property where the burn off will occur, the type and size of material to be burnt, and whether other possible methods of disposal have been considered. It is an offence to make false statements or declarations on an application for a permit and the penalty is $100 for this offence.

For further information, please contact the City's Health Services Department on 9399 0111.