Byron Shire bush fire prone land check
Bush fire prone land in Byron Shire is mapped by Byron Shire Council and certified by the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service. The council publishes a copy of its certified map, which it records as received in August 2022, in the RFS format.
Type an address below to see which category, if any, the block is in on each map, with its source and date.
NSW addresses only. Free, and no sign up.
Is my Byron Shire property bush fire prone?
It is if any part of the lot is on the certified bush fire prone land map, in category 1, 2 or 3 vegetation or in the buffer around it. The Site Checker above reads the NSW RFS certified map, Byron Shire Council's own copy of the map, and the NPWS record of past fires, and shows each answer separately. A lot on none of them reads "Not on the bush fire prone land map", a statement about the map and nothing more.
Where is the Byron Shire bush fire prone land map?
The map that counts is the statewide one the NSW RFS certifies, which you can search on the NSW RFS website or view on the NSW Planning Portal spatial viewer. Byron Shire Council's website does not say where to view the map, so the RFS search is the quickest place to check a lot.
Which Byron Shire Council bush fire prone land map is current?
The current map is Byron Shire Council's copy of the certified map, whose data the council records as received on 8 August 2022. Most of its polygons carry an update date of 12 July 2022, and four older ones carry dates from 2009 and 2012.
The checker reads Bushfire Vegetation Categories from Byron Shire Council's map service, checked on 24 September 2026, always beside the RFS map.
What do the categories on the Byron Shire map mean?
Category 1 is forest, woodland, heath, forested wetland and timber plantation. Category 2 is rainforest and lower risk remnant vegetation. Category 3 is grassland, freshwater wetland, semi arid woodland, alpine complex and arid shrubland. The vegetation buffer is land within 100 m of category 1 vegetation or 30 m of category 2 or 3 vegetation, and there is no category 4. When Byron's copy was checked on 24 September 2026 it held 1,362 category 1 polygons, 3,019 category 2, 772 category 3 and 287 buffer polygons, and the council licenses it under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia.
Do I need a BAL assessment to build in Byron Shire?
Usually, yes, if any part of the lot is on the map. A Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) sets the construction standard for a new home under AS 3959, and a bush fire consultant or the NSW RFS assesses it for the site from the vegetation, the slope and the distance between them. Building on bush fire prone land must also meet Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2019, which Byron Shire Council or your certifier applies. The map tells you an assessment is needed, not the level, and the Site Checker never gives or estimates a BAL.
Why is my block mapped when no fire has come near it?
Because the map is drawn from vegetation, not from fire history: a lot is mapped for what grows on it or near it. The Site Checker shows the NPWS Fire History, the fire boundaries NPWS holds back to 1920, as a separate line, and no recorded fire is not proof that none has reached the lot.
What else do people ask?
Can the Byron Shire bush fire prone land map change?
Yes. Councils redraw the map as vegetation and development change, and a new version takes effect once the Commissioner of the NSW RFS certifies it. Byron's current copy dates from mid 2022, and a handful of its polygons still carry dates from the 2009 and 2012 maps before it.
Does a buffer finding mean there is bushland on my block?
No. The buffer is land within 100 m of category 1 vegetation or 30 m of category 2 or 3 vegetation. A lot in the buffer is near mapped vegetation and does not have to carry any itself.
Is this the same as a section 10.7 planning certificate?
No. Byron Shire Council's section 10.7 planning certificate states whether the land is bush fire prone, and it is the formal answer. Order one through Byron Shire Council planning certificate.
Where does this information come from?
This page and the Site Checker are general information from published maps. They are not a Bushfire Attack Level assessment, a bush fire certificate, a section 10.7 planning certificate or a survey, and they do not replace advice from the council, the NSW RFS, a bush fire consultant, your certifier, a lawyer or your own designer.