It seems many Australians need a good think about why large towns and cities came into being because the fundamental reasons why are still relevant today. But rarely discussed. A reminder of the principal reasons may help more thoughtful decisions be made about where and how to live.
When looking for a house to live in when moving to Townsville 2 decades ago I started looking on the fringes. ‘Acreage’. Because being cooped up right next to neighbours isn’t my thing and I prefer native vegetation and wildlife to concrete and cars.
The options prompted much thought. What were the specific pros and cons of each?
Living on the edge of a city you won’t hear the neighbours partying. But I did the sums and realised it would cost hundreds of dollars more, weekly, to live on the edge of town and commute daily. It would be an expensive ‘lifestyle’ (luxury) choice costing thousands annually. And though you’re unlikely to be disturbed by neighbours – they won’t hear you if you call out for help, either. And many properties on the fringe of town are surrounded by scrub – so, I figured, you’d have to be responsible for your own bushfire protection measures. If you went away in the dry hot months, you’d have to figure out how to ensure animals were safe from fire while you were away.
So back to the start. How did cities come to exist? Originally nomads wandered about, then started planting crops, so they could cease endless hunter-gatherer roaming in search of their food and have a more reliable supply. Naturally they chose the best spots to build permanent dwellings. Where is the best soil found? Apart from the slopes of newish volcanoes (yes, there are people that have chosen to live beside active volcanoes) – alluvial deposits. Surrounding the mouths of rivers, where eons of fertile topsoil has been washed down and dropped, as the water slowed down before entering the sea. And close to a river mouth meant a reliable year-round fresh water supply a walking distance away, long before anything to carry water was invented. Usually lots of fishing prospects and plenty of animals taking advantage of the better vegetation. The reason for the original siting of cities is now why unfortunately they are spreading out over the highest quality soil and often destroying regions with the highest biodiversity. And it’s a no-brainer that the original centres of cities, now usually the CBD, are often on the land most likely to be flooded, plains washed flat over eons by the reliably flowing nearby rivers.
Brisbane’s CBD and river showing the classic signs of a watercourse on nearly flat ground – wild wiggling around. It’s obvious from the air that Brisbane will flood regularly – it’s just the height that will vary.
If we started from scratch today, we’d plant cities on the most unproductive land and pipe water long distances; saving the most fertile and well watered to grow our food. Pouring tons of cement and bitumen over our best soil is a massive design fail – in hindsight.
People grouping together meant some could start specialising in work other than food growing and engage in trade – so everyone had more choice of occupation. In their quest to dramatise as much as possible the media loves to highlight city crime statistics, but personal safety has been rising in many urban areas. (Often it’s people who know one another involved in violent crime not random strangers, but that’s a whole new topic.) And rural and remote regions aren’t immune from violent crimes, either.
But the one thing that everyone seems to forget these days is safety of another kind. Fire safety.
I grew up with bushfires, total fire ban days when everyone was on edge and alert to the slightest whiff of smoke or wisp on the horizon. We and neighbours lost crops and vehicles to fires; thankfully rarely houses, but then very few farms had eucalypts planted right up to the eaves. Everyone pitched in – from running communication channels to keeping food and water up to the hands-on firefighters. Nobody called the firebrigade, there was none to call – farmers had their own water trailers and pumps and it was neighbours pitching in to help one another. And this is still how it is in the bush, away from the town fringes. Self sufficiency. Thinking ahead and doing something in advance. Not perfect but personal responsibility is shouldered, mostly. (Not to suggest that people in the bush shouldn’t be helped – of course they should. Just pointing out that farmers have lower expectations of relying on others.)
Then disposable incomes rose in the 70s and hobby farms really became fashionable in NSW and Victoria. And more recently, ‘tree changers’, who love quaint ‘homes among the gumtrees’ (but never too far from the luxuries of a large city; and usually with savings from city careers safely in the bank or superfund). So there has been a huge increase in the number of residents accustomed to a lifetime of picking up the phone and ringing whoever they needed to fix a problem, instantly. People who grew up with the expectation that there were authorities just around the block to look after them and if something went wrong it was someone else’s responsibility to fix it, and fix it fast.
When driving through Victoria last December one town in particular stood out as a horror disaster waiting to happen. Maldon. A thick forest of saplings choked up a block virtually in the middle of town and there was scrub all around. After the 2009 bushfires which barbequed the Great Ocean Road, I was astonished to see many homes rebuilt in a very similar fashion in the same locations.
It won’t happen to me has morphed into it won’t happen again.
Living safely amongst the Australian bush means chopping down and clearing a fair swathe of it if your home and the people in it are to survive a serious bushfire. If you really love the bush, you’ll not live right in it, you’ll live in a town or city. And you’ll do the best thing for wildlife if you get rid of imported plants and instead grow local natives, upon which local native birds & animals can rely on for food. And if you have a cat, only ever let it outdoors when on a lead or in an outdoor cat run. If this was done by the majority of people in towns and cities then a permanent, thriving safe haven would be created that helps prevent mass extinctions due to a bushfire. (This is something I’ve created myself.)
If you’re working in a farming business you have a good reason for living on site. The rest of the population – no.
Sadly towns do burn, as we have seen – but the reality is that people living together in large groups helps provide safety in a successful, highly efficient & cost effective manner. Originally huddling together was protection from wild animals and marauding tribes, but some of the same safety benefits can still be had today – and top of the list is fighting fires.
Bushfires, like floods, droughts, cyclones and earthquakes, are a reminder that however egotistical we may become, the human race is not omnipotent. A reminder that we do not control everything and never will. We can become as arrogant as we like – but we’re only ever skating on thin ice. All farmers are reminded regularly that they’re at the mercy of weather vagaries. But it’s all too easy to forget this, when living in town.
Australians urgently need to have a rethink on urban sprawl and hideaways in the hills – as well as house design. Simple roof design, no fire traps (roof corners, gutters etc), non-flammable materials, roof sprinklers, pumps and self-sufficient water supplies.
Because there’s only 2 notably unprecedented aspects regarding Australia’s current bushfires:
- The amount of personal vitriol poured on the prime minister, and others. The screaming finger-pointing and political point scoring efforts has set a new low standard. Excuses are being made that these are people under duress but I don’t recall hearing this level of abuse after any other disaster (though the circumstances were similar). It achieves nothing and just reflects badly on the abusers.
- The number of fires that have been started by arsonists.
There has always been people who would prefer to stay and defend their homes and I understand that. What is appalling is people who are told to evacuate who choose not to, then change their minds later and request help – thus risking the lives of emergency services personnel. This happened here in Townsville in February 2019 where residents in mapped ‘definitely going underwater tonight’ areas were doorknocked at least twice by armed services personnel and told to leave – but didn’t, then asked for help in the middle of the night from their rooftops. A number did start complaining afterwards (‘we weren’t warned’; ‘we didn’t know how bad it would be’) however they were thankfully shouted down by the more practical majority – including others who had the misfortune to be flooded themselves – saying it was the rain gods to blame not the human beings in charge of making the tough water management decisions. This is in contrast to what we’re hearing from south eastern Australia where the attempt to score political points has reached fever pitch and shows no sign of abating.
In the meantime I’ve heard little said of bushfire preparation measures underway in south western Victoria, much of which has had the best spring for decades. Which means plentiful vegetation and likely fires in late summer when it dries off. Undoubtedly farmers will be putting in fire breaks, with machinery or by grazing – but I’m not confident that the ‘tree change’ towns are up to the task of self reliance.
Ultimately Australia will always have bushfires and we will never stop them completely, only reduce the severity and acreage burned in the one hit. So all we can do is choose where we live far more wisely – do we really need to live amongst the bush, or should we be in town – and design our homes to be far more resistant to natural disasters. And somehow ramp up the level of personal responsibility that must be taken. Including – if you have not insured your home, then don’t expect people who have scraped up the money to insure their own home, to donate to rebuild yours. Ideally, insurance companies will institute a system of building certification prior to insurance being taken out, to reward home owners who have put at least some thought and effort into making their buildings disaster-resistant.
As for northern Australia – I’m just disgusted that no state or local governments has had the good sense to ban roofing tiles, solar tubes and other cyclone-vulnerable features, in cyclone-prone areas. All the advice is there in Townsville’s Cyclone Testing Station reports, but nobody has the fortitude to be proactive and implement commonsense, basic measures to help reduce future destruction.
Two things are for certain – the natural disaster cycle is one that will just keep repeating, and next time around the media will yet again say it is record-breaking and unprecedented.