Planning & BMO

The Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO) applies to land in Victoria that may be at risk from bushfire. If your land is within the BMO you may need a planning permit to develop or subdivide your property.

The bushfire related planning controls and maps that show where the BMO applies have recently been updated. For more information on what has changed, please visit The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) website

Help and advice

1. The first point of contact for general help and advice on applying for a permit is your local council.
2. For information on preparing a planning application under the BMO, DELWP has prepared access guides, fact sheets and templates in the Technical Information section of its bushfire protection website.  
3. For further assistance the Fire Protection Association Australia website provides a list of accredited Bushfire Planning and Design Practitioners (BPAD) who can assist you with advice on the requirements for development in a BMO and preparing a planning application that addresses the bushfire planning controls.
4. Planning and BMO FAQ's 

Additional resources

• To assist you in preparing a simple permit application in the BMO, DELWP with the support of CFA have prepared a template Bushfire Management Statement for the development of single dwellings under Pathway 1 or Pathway 2 of the BMO. You may need to seek additional support from a bushfire consultant to help you prepare your application. The FPAA website provides a list of accredited Bushfire Planning and Design Practitioners (BPAD).
• Free planning property reports will help you identify if your land is within the BMO.
• The bushfire planning provisions can be viewed at Clauses 44.06 & 53.02 of the Victoria Planning Provisions here. More information on how to interpret these requirements, can be found on the DELWP website, including the Technical Guideline – Planning Permit Applications Bushfire Management Overlay September 2017.
• To assist in the identification of the different vegetation classes and how they may affect bushfire behaviour refer to CFA’s Vegetation Classes in the Victorian BMO (PDF 482k). You may also need to review Australian Standard AS3959-2009.
• For information on CFA’s requirements for water supply fittings refer to Tank Connections (PDF 482k).
• View a list of CFA’s standard permit conditions.
• To understand some common terms used in CFA’s standard planning permit conditions you can refer to the glossary of terms.
• To assist practitioners in applying the Bushfire Hazard Landscape Assessment for development in the BMO, refer to Guideline - Applying the Bushfire Hazard Landscape Assessment in a BMO (PDF 81k)
• To assist practitioners with advice regarding requirements for installing a remote outlet to a firefighting water supply in the BMO, refer to Remote Outlet Guidelines (PDF 2.5Mb)