The plan was prepared under the Emergency Management Act 2013 and says it complies with the guidelines for State, Regional and Municipal Emergency Management Plans issued under section 77 of that Act. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan has a three-year life and is scheduled for review and update in 2028. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Urgent updates are allowed if there is significant risk that life or property will be endangered unless the plan is updated. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Its planning importance is not limited to emergency response because it identifies the hazards that should shape land-use planning, infrastructure resilience, community facility readiness, open-space management and recovery programming. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
One extracted source file was used for this page: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The source is the public website version of the final Mitchell Shire MEMP for 2025-2028. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The version-control table records Draft V7 on 1 October 2024, Draft V8 in November 2024 and Final V8 on 19 December 2024. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan states that a Statement of Assurance, checklist and certificate were submitted to the Hume REMPC under section 60AG of the Emergency Management Act 2013. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The public plan explicitly notes that some operational information is restricted, so this wiki page treats missing operational detail as a source limitation rather than filling gaps from assumptions. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan links to a separate Mitchell Shire Emergency Management Community Profile, but that profile was not part of the matched source set used here. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The source says hyperlinks may point to documents controlled by external authors and subject to review, which means the MEMP is a living document rather than a closed static evidence base. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The gaps file records the Community Profile, sub-plans and restricted operational documents as further research items because they would materially sharpen locality-specific interpretation. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Strategic Thesis
The plan’s central feasibility message is that emergency risk in Mitchell Shire Council is spatial, not just procedural. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Bushfire, grassfire, flood and heat are not isolated service events; they affect where development can occur, what standards buildings and roads need to meet, how open space is managed and which communities need preparedness investment. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan names changing climatic conditions, increased urbanisation, growing populations and rapid technological change as challenges for emergency planning. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: rapid urbanisation increases the number of people, dwellings, roads, utilities and community facilities exposed to the same landscape hazards. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: climate change and urban heat interact with public realm design, urban forest delivery and relief-centre demand, so emergency planning should be read with climate-emergency-action-plan-2024 and urban-forest-strategy-2023. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: flood and bushfire risk cross municipal boundaries, so local planning cannot rely only on council-controlled assets and staff. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan explicitly says many significant landscape risks have mitigation and response responsibilities at regional or state level. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
That allocation reduces direct municipal control but increases the importance of local intelligence, land-use controls, inter-agency exercises and pre-identified facilities. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Local council is required under section 59 of the Emergency Management Act 2013 to establish and chair the municipal committee. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The committee includes local representation from emergency services, relevant community groups, relief and recovery agencies and council. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The committee is the forum for government and non-government agencies to develop coordinated emergency-management policies, procedures, strategies and frameworks for the municipal district. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The committee has two sub-committees: Fire Management Planning and Relief and Recovery Planning. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The committee also has two working groups that meet when required: Risk Assessment and Community Engagement. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: this structure separates hazard-specific mitigation, recovery planning, risk assessment and community engagement rather than leaving all emergency functions inside one general committee agenda. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
A restricted-access online facility has been established by council for committee members to store, share and collaborate on documents. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: restricted document access is defensible for operational information, but it means public planning users cannot fully test whether relief-centre, evacuation and resource arrangements are adequate. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Plan Hierarchy
The MEMP sits below the Victorian State Emergency Management Plan and the Hume Region Emergency Management Plan. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The State Emergency Management Plan has 13 state sub-plans covering biosecurity, bushfire, cyber security, earthquake, electricity and gas supply, extreme heat, flood, health emergency response, maritime emergencies, public transport disruption, storm, tsunami and pandemic influenza. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mitchell Shire’s MEMP currently has three municipal sub-plans: Municipal Fire Sub-Plan, Municipal Flood Sub-Plan and Relief and Recovery Sub-Plan. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mitchell also has complementary plans for heatwave, Neighbourhood Safer Places and council influenza or pandemic planning. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Where there is no specific local sub-plan, the MEMP says state-level sub-plan information is used. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: absence of a local sub-plan transfers more interpretive weight to state arrangements, which can be less sensitive to local roads, communities, facilities and growth-area staging. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The community plans are developed by communities themselves, often with assistance from the municipal committee. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The purpose of a Community Emergency Management Plan is to capture local knowledge, identify strengths, challenges and priorities, solve problems, plan for emergencies and build local community networks. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: community plans matter for rural interface and township planning because they convert resident knowledge into operational intelligence before an incident. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Municipal Capability
Mitchell Shire is serviced by all emergency service agencies. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the 18-CFA-brigade footprint is critical for bushfire and grassfire readiness across a large municipality with rural land, growth fronts and public-land interfaces. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the 2-SES-unit footprint concentrates flood and storm response capability, so flood-prone towns such as Seymour depend on escalation and resource sharing during major events. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan states that control or support agencies with legislated roles manage their own capability and capacity. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The municipal committee does not control or maintain a list of local resources, but can facilitate discussions or agreements between agencies to identify and access resources. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: this makes the MEMP a coordination and intelligence tool, not a direct command-and-control asset register. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan cites DEECA contractor panels for bushfire plant and operators as an example of response escalation. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
It also cites the Municipal Association of Victoria inter-council resource-sharing protocol for physical and human resources during relief and recovery. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The committee is undertaking a process to confirm the capabilities of smaller supporting agencies and community groups so they can be included in the Relief and Recovery Sub-Plan. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: this is a material implementation dependency because community organisations often provide the practical capacity for relief, outreach, food, animal support, transport and local recovery. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Risk Assessment
The plan uses the Community Emergency Risk Assessment process through the Risk Assessment Working Group. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
CERA is described as an all-hazards risk-assessment tool following ISO 31000. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The working group reviews risks every three years as the MEMP is reviewed and updated. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The risk review considers previously identified risks, changes and development in the municipal area, new and emerging risks and lessons from emergency events. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Each risk is assessed for likelihood and consequence across built, economic, social and natural environments. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan incorporates the 14 Victorian Significant Emergency Risks identified in the State Emergency Management Plan. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The most recent CERA review occurred in December 2023. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The municipal committee approved the CERA outcomes on 13 June 2024. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The highest-risk emergency events identified for Mitchell are fire, flood, extreme temperatures, pandemic and emergency animal disease. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Bushfire and grassfire have medium rating confidence and high residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Flood has high rating confidence and high residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Extreme temperatures have medium rating confidence and high residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Emergency animal disease has medium rating confidence and high residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Commercial, industrial and high-rise fire has medium rating confidence and high residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Human disease pandemic is listed with medium rating confidence and medium residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Structural failure is listed with medium rating confidence and medium residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the high confidence for flood compared with medium confidence for bushfire, heat and animal disease indicates flood planning has a stronger evidence base in the current CERA table. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: medium confidence on several high-residual-risk hazards is a planning warning because it means high stakes remain even where local evidence or certainty is incomplete. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
CERA outputs are used to prioritise activities and resources across the municipality. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: development review should treat the high residual risks as risk-based infrastructure and design requirements, not only as emergency-service matters. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Bushfire And Grassfire
Bushfire and grassfire are listed as high residual risk for Mitchell Shire. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The Victorian Significant Risks table assigns bushfire control roles to DEECA or Forest Fire Management Victoria on public land and CFA or Fire Rescue Victoria on private land. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The same table links bushfire mitigation to the State Bushfire Plan, Bushfire Management Overlay and Joint Fuel Management Program. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The mitigation table lists land-use planning through the Mitchell Planning Scheme as a bushfire mitigation activity involving council, Department of Transport and Planning and CFA. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Building regulations, standards and codes are also listed as bushfire mitigation activities involving council, Department of Transport and Planning, CFA and the Victorian Building Authority. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Landscape fuel management is listed with CFA, council, DEECA, Parks Victoria and Department of Transport and Planning. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Fire ignition controls include fire danger period determination, total fire ban days and arson programs. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Community education and engagement are listed for fire prevention, bushfire response and bushfire-smoke response. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Seasonal capability arrangements include project firefighters, fire towers, state resource sharing and state contracted resources. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Restricted access to public land includes seasonal closures, proactive forest patrols and Australian Fire Danger Rating System closures. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: these controls make bushfire risk a design and staging issue for interface subdivisions, rural living proposals, roads, open-space edges and community-facility siting. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: where growth areas abut grassland or bushfire-prone land, the mitigation burden can shift into defendable space, access geometry, water supply, landscaping and building standards. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical emergency table records the 1983 Puckapunyal Army Base bushfire. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records the March 2002 Glenaroua bushfire as affecting 6,100 hectares and 1 house. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records the February 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records the February 2014 Mickleham-Kilmore bushfire. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the emergency history shows bushfire risk is not theoretical; it has affected military land, rural land and the broader shire over several decades. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Puckapunyal Military Area
The plan identifies risk mitigation within the Puckapunyal Military Area as the responsibility of the Department of Defence. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Defence undertakes its own risk assessment and maintains emergency management plans for risks affecting military and civilian personnel within Puckapunyal boundaries. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan states that Puckapunyal hosts an active firing range and therefore has increased risk of fire ignition. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Bushfire mitigation is consequently a high priority for the Puckapunyal area. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Puckapunyal has its own fire station, firefighting units and full-time firefighting staff. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Cross-boundary events or events exceeding Puckapunyal resources require coordination with external agencies. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan says a significant proportion of the municipality is taken up by the Puckapunyal Military Area. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: Puckapunyal is a major municipal risk geography but is not controlled by council, so interface planning depends on Defence cooperation and cross-boundary readiness. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
An annual September or October Puckapunyal Military Area pre-season bushfire exercise tests and adjusts base and workplace emergency response procedures and plans. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Flood
Flood is listed with high rating confidence and high residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The Victorian Significant Risks table identifies flood control and mitigation roles for Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and VICSES. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Flood mitigation is linked to the State Flood Sub-Plan, land-use planning, the Victorian Floodplain Management Strategy and SES community resilience strategies. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The Mitchell mitigation table lists floodplain management strategy and reform as a flood mitigation activity involving catchment management authorities, Melbourne Water and DEECA. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Strategic and statutory land-use planning through the Mitchell Planning Scheme is listed as a flood mitigation activity involving council, Department of Transport and Planning and catchment management authorities. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Enforcement of building regulations, standards and codes is listed as a flood mitigation activity involving council, Department of Transport and Planning and the Victorian Building Authority. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Flood mitigation infrastructure includes levees, retarding basins, backflow valves and the drainage network. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Vegetation and waterway management are listed as flood mitigation activities involving council, catchment management authorities and DEECA. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Flood emergency planning includes readiness under the Mitchell Shire Flood Emergency Plan and the Goulburn Broken Regional Floodplain Management Strategy. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Flood data, intelligence and mapping include the Goulburn Broken Flood Intelligence Portal, VicPlan and Bureau of Meteorology flood information. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Total flood warning systems include local river-level monitoring and the Regional Water Monitoring Partnership. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Reservoir safety management is listed as a flood-risk mitigation activity involving reservoir operators and VICSES, with reference to the Lake Eildon Technical Assessment Report. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the presence of levees, retarding basins, backflow valves and drainage networks makes asset condition and capital-program delivery part of flood-risk governance. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records flood at Whiteheads Creek and Seymour in February 1973 with one drowning and severe storm from Yea to Seymour. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records Sunday Creek Seymour flood in May 1974. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records Kilmore Creek flood in December 1992. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records Goulburn River Seymour flood in 1993 and September 2010. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records a January 2016 Whiteheads Creek Seymour flood with one drowning. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The October 2022 event is described as a Seymour and surrounding areas 1-in-75-year flood. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
January 2024 is recorded as a Seymour and surrounding areas flood. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the repeated Seymour and Goulburn River flood history makes seymour-township-goulburn-river-flood-sub-plan a high-value companion source for planning controls and infrastructure prioritisation. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Heat And Climate Exposure
Extreme temperatures, including heat and cold, are listed with medium rating confidence and high residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The Victorian Significant Risks table assigns heatwave control roles to the Department of Health and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The mitigation table lists monitoring and broadcasting warnings related to extreme weather as an extreme-temperature activity involving the Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Health and VICSES. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The mitigation table lists urban design and planning and the Urban Forest Strategy as extreme-temperature mitigation activities involving council and Department of Transport and Planning. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Heat safety awareness for public-event organisers is listed as an activity involving council, event organisers and Department of Health. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the explicit link between heat risk and urban design means canopy, shade, cool refuges, active-transport comfort and public-event management are emergency-risk measures as well as amenity measures. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: heat risk should be read beside climate-emergency-action-plan-2024 and urban-forest-strategy-2023 because the MEMP treats extreme temperatures as a high residual risk requiring land-use and urban-design responses. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Pandemic And Biosecurity
Human disease pandemic is one of the highest-risk emergency event types named by the current Mitchell CERA assessment, although the table gives it medium residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Pandemic mitigation activities include enforcement of health guidelines, standards and codes by Department of Health and council. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Pandemic mitigation also includes health-system emergency planning, surge-capacity planning and exercises involving council, Department of Health and local health providers. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Community education is listed as a pandemic mitigation activity for council and Department of Health. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The historical table records the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan’s learning section says the COVID-19 pandemic spanned from March 2020 until September 2022. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Emergency animal disease is listed with medium confidence and high residual risk. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Emergency animal disease mitigation includes planning and exercises for local roles supporting national and state responses to biosecurity risks and outbreaks of disease. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The agencies listed for emergency animal disease mitigation are council, Department of Agriculture, Animal Welfare Victoria and Victoria Police. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: pandemic and animal-disease planning affect land-use and economic resilience where agriculture, livestock movement, community facilities, health services and relief logistics intersect. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Relief Centres And Evacuation
The plan says several pre-identified locations are maintained for potential use as Emergency Relief Centres. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: these four facilities are critical social infrastructure because they become municipal service nodes during displacement, relief and initial recovery. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Relief-centre readiness training and exercises are undertaken regularly by members of the municipal committee. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The May 2023 Emergency Relief Centre exercise was a full-scale multi-agency exercise testing a Wallan facility, new IT systems and updated Standard Operating Procedures. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: testing Wallan is material because Wallan is a growth-area settlement where population growth can increase relief demand and traffic-management complexity. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Pre-evacuation planning has been undertaken for communities and townships across Mitchell Shire. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Pre-evacuation guidance documents include primary and secondary evacuation routes, occupied properties, Victorian Fire Risk Register risk ratings and other locality information. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
There are 11 pre-evacuation guidance documents covering high-risk locations across the shire. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The pre-evacuation guidance documents are operational plans located in the Seymour Incident Control Centre. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: because these 11 plans are operational rather than public, development assessment may need targeted agency advice to understand evacuation constraints for high-risk localities. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The MEMP says the Mitchell Shire Neighbourhood Safer Places Plan provides detail on suitable locations, establishment and maintenance of Neighbourhood Safer Places - Bushfire Places of Last Resort. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The listed places include Pyalong Recreation Reserve Building in Pyalong and Chittick Park Oval in Seymour. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The listed places include Tooborac Recreation Reserve in Tooborac and CWA Park in Tallarook. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The listed places include Wandong Shopping Plaza Car Park in Wandong and Hadfield Park in Wallan. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: Neighbourhood Safer Places are last-resort places, not full relief centres, so they do not remove the need for evacuation planning, property-level preparedness or resilient road access. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: because several locations are recreation reserves or open-space assets, open-space asset management and bushfire planning need to be aligned. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: Hadfield Park, Chittick Park and other listed sites should be treated as dual-purpose public assets with everyday recreation roles and emergency last-resort roles. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Recovery
The plan distinguishes response, relief and recovery but says recovery activities commence concurrently with response and relief. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Recovery may extend months or years after an emergency depending on event scale. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The recovery framework refers to the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience National Principles for Disaster Recovery, Emergency Management Victoria’s Resilient Recovery Strategy and the Disaster Recovery Toolkit for Local Government. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Emergency Recovery Victoria is identified as the permanent dedicated relief and recovery agency supporting state and regional recovery programs. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan says recovery roles and responsibilities are detailed across four environments: social, economic, built and natural. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the four-environment model turns emergency recovery into a planning issue for community services, local economy, assets, housing, environmental repair and cultural values. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The existing Relief and Recovery Sub-Plan contains extensive detail on roles and responsibilities but is under review in light of lessons from the October 2022 floods. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan says the October 2022 flood severely impacted the Mitchell Shire community. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
A Community Recovery Committee was activated following the October 2022 flood events. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan notes a February 2023 Parliamentary Inquiry into the October 2022 flood event and says the committee was to consider inquiry outcomes. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
An After Action Review was conducted by VICSES on 22 November 2022 for the October 2022 floods. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan refers to a Community Flood Recovery Plan after the October 2022 event. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The January 2024 storm and flood event also informs learning in the plan’s continual-improvement section. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: recovery planning should feed back into land-use planning because repeated recovery demand may indicate infrastructure, drainage, warning, access or community-resilience deficits. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Exercises And Learning
The previous 2021-2024 MEMP lifecycle included several exercises testing planning strategies and local agency capabilities. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The August 2022 Incident Control Centre exercise tested the Seymour Incident Control Centre as a facility. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
That exercise included roles for the Incident Controller, Incident Management Team and Incident Emergency Management Team. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The August 2022 exercise also applied updated Local Government Act and State Emergency Management Plan requirements. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The August 2022 exercise provided mentored experience for personnel transitioning from Level 2 to Level 3. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The September 2023 VICSES Incident Command Post exercise demonstrated use of Trello with the Incident Management System to prioritise and deploy SES and CFA resources. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The March 2024 inter-agency training exercise simulated a large-scale bus accident. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Municipal Emergency Management Officer, Municipal Recovery Manager and Emergency Management Liaison Officer training was delivered to Mitchell Shire Council staff during 2022-2024. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Annual pre-season briefings occurred between October and December in each of the three years 2021-2024. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the exercise record is a readiness signal, but it is not a substitute for publishing enough locality-level planning evidence for strategic planning users. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: exercises covering Wallan, Seymour, Puckapunyal and bus-accident scenarios show the plan is testing facility, wildfire, command and multi-agency response functions rather than relying only on written arrangements. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Actions And Goals
The MEMP sets three key outcomes and strategies for the 2025-2028 period. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Outcome 1 is to maximise the effectiveness of the Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committee. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Outcome 2 is to improve understanding and planning for at-risk groups and communities. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Outcome 3 is to increase community involvement and education in emergency planning. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan says the June 2024 Emergency Management Planning Toolkit for People Most at Risk will be used to better consider tailored approaches for at-risk groups across Mitchell Shire. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Outcome 1 includes implementing the action plan from the 2022 flood debrief in Years 1 and 2. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Outcome 2 includes considering people with disabilities and children, and considering other at-risk groups in Year 2. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Outcome 3 includes delivering education and active engagement in high-risk communities. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: these outcomes turn the MEMP into a monitoring program; if the actions are not implemented, the risk assessment remains descriptive rather than operationally useful. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Mechanism: the at-risk-groups work is material for planning because vulnerability is not evenly distributed across townships, rural localities, aged residents, children, people with disability, isolated households and people without private transport. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Development Feasibility Implications
Development in bushfire and grassfire areas must be read against the high residual risk rating and the mitigation reliance on land-use planning, building controls, fuel management and public-land access controls. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Development in flood-affected areas must be read against the high-confidence, high-residual-risk flood rating and the plan’s reliance on floodplain strategy, building controls, drainage assets, river monitoring and warning systems. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Growth-area planning around Wallan, Beveridge, Kilmore, Broadford and Seymour should account for relief-centre catchments, evacuation routes, road redundancy and heat exposure because the MEMP identifies these as municipal-scale readiness issues. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Open-space planning should account for dual-use emergency roles where recreation reserves, car parks, halls and aquatic centres are identified as relief centres or last-resort bushfire places. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Public realm and subdivision design should treat heat mitigation as emergency-risk reduction because the plan links extreme temperatures to urban design, planning and the Urban Forest Strategy. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Rural land-use planning should treat emergency animal disease as a high residual risk because the plan identifies local roles in biosecurity outbreaks. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Industrial and employment-land planning should account for high residual risk from commercial, industrial and high-rise fire. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Planning near Puckapunyal should recognise that an active firing range increases fire ignition risk and that Defence retains primary mitigation responsibility inside its boundaries. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Infrastructure planning should account for the plan’s reliance on resource-sharing protocols and agency escalation rather than assuming local capability is self-sufficient during major events. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Community-facility planning should protect and upgrade potential relief centres because the plan relies on pre-identified facilities for rapid activation. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Drainage and flood-mitigation budgets should be read as emergency-risk investments because the MEMP identifies levees, retarding basins, backflow valves and drainage networks as flood mitigation infrastructure. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Planning-scheme implementation should be monitored because the plan identifies the Mitchell Planning Scheme as a mitigation mechanism for both bushfire and flood. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Contested Issues And Risks
The public MEMP does not publish the full operational content of the 11 high-risk pre-evacuation guidance documents. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Planning risk: without those documents, external users cannot verify whether evacuation routes remain adequate after growth, roadworks, bridge constraints or changed hazard mapping. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan relies on a separate Emergency Management Community Profile for local context. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Planning risk: without that profile, vulnerability analysis cannot be tested against demographic, settlement, isolation, language, disability, housing or transport data. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan says many significant hazards are state or regional responsibilities. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Planning risk: agency-led risk mitigation can leave timing uncertainty for local capital works, education campaigns, warnings, fuel management and flood-intelligence upgrades. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Medium confidence on bushfire, heat, animal disease and industrial fire means the consequence rating is high but evidentiary confidence is not fully strong. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Planning risk: medium-confidence high-residual-risk hazards should trigger precautionary controls and further evidence gathering rather than deferral. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The Relief and Recovery Sub-Plan is under review in response to lessons from the October 2022 floods. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Planning risk: until the review output is available, recovery roles, facility needs and at-risk-community support arrangements may be in transition. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Timeline And Monitoring Signals
March to August 2024 was the plan-development period for the 2025-2028 MEMP. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The latest CERA review occurred in December 2023 and was approved on 13 June 2024. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The final plan was approved on 19 December 2024. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The plan review year is 2028. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Monitoring signal: check whether the 2022 flood debrief action plan is implemented during Years 1 and 2 of the plan cycle. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Monitoring signal: check whether the Relief and Recovery Sub-Plan review produces published changes after the October 2022 flood lessons. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Monitoring signal: check whether the smaller supporting agencies and community groups capability audit is completed and incorporated into the Relief and Recovery Sub-Plan. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Monitoring signal: check whether at-risk-group planning uses the June 2024 People Most at Risk toolkit and identifies specific local cohorts. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Monitoring signal: check whether flood and storm lessons from January 2024 are reflected in updated evacuation, relief and drainage priorities. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Monitoring signal: check whether growth-area PSPs and infrastructure plans reference MEMP risk settings for evacuation, relief, heat, flood and bushfire. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Bottom Line
The MEMP is a high-value planning intelligence source because it identifies Mitchell’s local high residual risks and the mechanisms used to reduce them. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
Its strongest quantified planning signals are the three-year review cycle, 14 significant state risks, 18 CFA brigades, 4 Ambulance Victoria stations, 2 SES units, 5 police stations, 11 high-risk pre-evacuation guidance documents, 4 potential emergency relief centres and repeated flood and bushfire history. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The most direct development implications are for flood-prone land, bushfire and grassfire interface areas, heat-exposed public realm, emergency-relief facilities, evacuation-route adequacy and recovery capacity. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The largest evidence gaps are locality-level vulnerability, unpublished operational evacuation guidance, the current Relief and Recovery Sub-Plan, and the separate Community Profile. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)
The page should be updated when the 2028 review, Relief and Recovery Sub-Plan review, municipal flood sub-plan, municipal fire sub-plan or Community Profile are added to the Mitchell corpus. (Source: website-version-final-mitchell-shire-memp-2025-2028.txt)