Central Coast bush fire prone land check
Bush fire prone land on the Central Coast is mapped by Central Coast Council and certified by the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service. The council publishes its 2021 certified map and, beside it, the former maps of Wyong (2015) and Gosford (2008), the two councils it was formed from.
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 Central Coast 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, Central Coast Council's own copy of the map and its former maps, 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 Central Coast 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. Central Coast Council also shows the map in its interactive mapping tools, and its bushfire prone land page explains how to check a property.
Which Central Coast Council bush fire prone land map is current?
The current map is Central Coast Bushfire Prone Land 2021, which the RFS statewide map dates 29 March 2021 for Central Coast land. The Wyong 2015 and Gosford 2008 maps are former maps, shown as dated facts and never as a current control.
The checker reads Central Coast Bushfire Prone Land 2021, Wyong BushFire Prone Land 2015 and Gosford Bushfire Prone 2008 from Central Coast Council's map service, checked on 24 September 2026, always beside the RFS map.
What do the categories on the Central Coast 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. The Gosford 2008 map also carries one polygon cut out of the mapped land, which the checker leaves out rather than read as mapped.
Do I need a BAL assessment to build on the Central Coast?
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 Central Coast 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 Central Coast 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. On the Central Coast that has happened at least three times: the Gosford map of 2008, the Wyong map of 2015 and the merged Central Coast map of 2021.
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. Central Coast Council's section 10.7 planning certificate states whether the land is bush fire prone, and it is the formal answer. Order one through Central Coast Council online services.
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.