Due to recent drying winds and low rainfall, the fire risk across our region is increasing so we need to begin taking precautions.

Council will be erecting signage on our well-used trails to make sure users are aware of the rising fire risk. In those areas, we recommend people only use the reserve early in the morning or in the evening.

Please avoid high fire risk areas, such as reserves with forest or dense vegetation, in the afternoon when conditions are at their warmest.

We strongly advise that reserve users remain in the lower areas only of the following reserves, this is for ease of evacuation in the case of a fire:

• Grampians Reserve
• Tantragee Reserve (Codgers)
• Sir Stanley Whitehead Reserve
• Botanical Hill Reserve
• Brook Conservation Reserve
• Maitai Water Reserve
• Marsden Valley Reserve
• Roding Water Reserve

The BUI (Build Up Index) has reached 60. The BUI is used by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and other agencies to measure fire risk – it’s “an indicator of the difficulty in supressing a fire that has started”.

If the BUI reaches 80, Council will be seeking FENZ advice on the possibility of closing reserves with a high risk profile. At a BUI of 100, all reserves will close.

There is now a complete fire ban in all parks and reserves. Please take note of this advice for your own safety and if you see signs of smoke or fire in any reserves please call 111 immediately.

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