THE implementation of all 67 recommendations of the Bushfires Royal Commission would add tens of millions of dollars to rural councils' expenses, it has been claimed.
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Municipal Association of Victoria chief executive Rob Spence welcomed the commission's report but said councils must receive full funding from state or federal governments to implement the recommendations.
Mr Spence said he did not want to see a situation where councils had to force up rates to fund the extra workload. ''In this case, if the state or the Commonwealth didn't come to the party then this would all reflect in rates,'' he warned.
Councils would have vastly increased wages bills to pay for staff to create and maintain neighbourhood safer places, identify hazardous trees near powerlines, deal with planning permits and to register and support ''vulnerable'' people.
''We want the funding to come from either the state or the Commonwealth through a proper and sensible distribution to councils … we don't want the poor municipalities getting poorer and ultimately falling over,'' he said.
Mr Spence said he strongly welcomed the commission's call to simplify the rules constraining councils from clearing excess fuels from roadsides. But he said he was concerned'' about the call for a voluntary resettlement program for people in bushfire-prone areas, saying he preferred other measures to improve bushfire safety.
A resettlement program could erode country communities of residents and make communities less connected, he said.
''Our members would want to approach this in a very different way, I think. To make sure people are protected and willing to stay there.''
About 150 council representatives were briefed on the recommendations of the royal commission at a special meeting in Melbourne yesterday.
