More areas of the Crater Lakes have been reopened six weeks after fire burned through more than 50ha of the precinct.
Mount Gambier City Council reopened Elliott Drive to the Centenary Tower car park on Friday, with the road now accessible to traffic and the adjacent 650 metre walking track – the Saddle Climb – is open for use following ongoing damage and risk assessments in the area.
Council chief executive Sarah Philpott said the area was not directly affected by the fire.
“However, the slopes at the top of the Lions lookout 80 metres east of the carpark area was backburned in order to control the fire should it have reached this section, but it did not,” she said.
“The backburn was only conducted on the slopes, so the condition of the walking track and the lookout has not changed after the fire and there is no sign of erosion since the initial risk assessment that was conducted in early February and after about 40mm of rain.
“Temporary fencing has been installed along the crossroads track west of the Lions lookout to prevent the public from entering the fire affected areas.
“The public is not able to walk up to Centenary Tower or access the Blue Gum walking trails at this point in time.
“These areas have been affected by the fire and backburning efforts and are still deemed dangerous.
“There is a risk of falling trees, limbs, debris and landslide/erosion.”
Arborman Tree Solutions Director and Consulting Arborist Marcus Lodge will assess the Blue Gums area with council staff at the end of the month.
“The outcome of the assessment will enable us to determine the scope of works required to clean this area up,” Ms Philpott said.
“We will also liaise with the Limestone Coast Landscape Board to arrange an audit of the underlying layer of vegetation in the vicinity of the fire affected area to determine what natural habitat should remain.
“This will help with future planning and management to ensure we do not over clear the area while also taking fire safety into consideration.
“Once this has been determined and the area is deemed safe, we can then start to inspect the tracks and trails and work out when we can open them up for public use once again.”
