THOUSANDS of regional residents will be banned from collecting domestic firewood from public land this year.
Public reserves and parks from Mildura to Shepparton will be closed to firewood collections from this winter, with all public land wood collecting to end in the northern region within five years, according to a report in The Weekly Times.
It is feared that elderly people using wood for heating will be most vulnerable to the bans.
Restrictions on wood collection from river red gum parks, reserves and forests, to ensure locals are given access to their local firewood, began last month.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is investigating how it can manage the impact of declining red gum firewood supplies from public land.
Residents in the Campaspe, Gannawarra and Loddon shires, along with the Swan Hill Rural City Council, are only permitted to collect firewood from the Gunbower Forest Firewood Collection Area.
Murray Group of Councils chairman, Gary Cleveland said the elderly will be “shivering to death”.
“Wood has always been available as a cheap energy source and in some of our towns we believe more than half the households use wood,” he said.
Commercial suppliers are currently selling split red gum wood for about $250 per tonne.
The Baillieu Government decided in 2011 to end the 50-year-old permit system to control access to free firewood collection in order to make it more affordable and remove red tape that had guaranteed its sustainability.
However, it is predicted some firewood supplies in northern Victoria’s State forests would be exhausted this year.
Residents are being encouraged by DELWP to find alternatives to heat their homes with more sustainable sources of energy, such as gas or electric.
Member for Northern Victoria, Daniel Young labelled the ban as “short-sighted and city-centric”.
“Community leaders fear thousands of country residents have been left in the cold, without a means to find alternative heating sources,” he said.
Mr Young said the ban would affect tourism, as campers in the State’s north will be prevented from collecting wood for campfires.
“The fire collection has long assisted in the prevention of bushfires by reducing fuel loads and we do not know what effect this ban will have on the safety of rural towns,” he said.
Kerang resident, Amanda Neil, who collects firewood at Koondrook and Cohuna, said thousands of people have been left in the cold.
“We have a wood heater and that’s our only source of heating,” she said.
“We are not connecting to natural gas as the costs are too high, such as switching appliances over and the running line to the house.”
Kerang aged pensioner, Bev Goggin said she saved to purchase a wood heater two years ago as electric heating blew out her budget.
“This is causing anxiety. If we have no firewood, we have no warmth in our house,” she said.
