Port Stephens bush fire prone land check
Bush fire prone land in Port Stephens is mapped by Port Stephens Council and certified by the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service. The council publishes its current map, certified on 22 January 2026, and the 2021 map it replaced.
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 Port Stephens 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, Port Stephens Council's own copy of the map and its former 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 Port Stephens 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. Port Stephens Council's bushfire zone maps page opens a council map of bush fire prone areas, which the council says it works with the NSW RFS to identify.
Which Port Stephens Council bush fire prone land map is current?
The current map is Bushfire Prone Land 2026, and every one of its 838 polygons carries a certification date of 22 January 2026, the same date the RFS statewide map gives Port Stephens land. Bushfire Prone Land 2021, certified on 16 January 2021, is shown as a former map.
The checker reads Bushfire Prone Land 2026 and Bushfire Prone Land 2021 from Port Stephens Council's map service, checked on 24 September 2026, always beside the RFS map.
What do the categories on the Port Stephens 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 current Port Stephens copy calls the buffer Vegetation Buffer and the 2021 copy calls it Buffer, and the checker reads both as the same thing: land near mapped vegetation.
Do I need a BAL assessment to build in Port Stephens?
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 Port Stephens 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 Port Stephens 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. The Port Stephens map certified on 16 January 2021 was replaced by the one certified on 22 January 2026, and the council says its maps are constantly being updated.
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. Port Stephens Council's section 10.7 planning certificate states whether the land is bush fire prone, and it is the formal answer. Order one through Port Stephens Council planning certificates.
Where does this information come from?
- Port Stephens Council bushfire mapping, the map service the Site Checker reads
- Port Stephens Council, bushfire zone maps
- NSW RFS, check if you're in bush fire prone land
- NSW Planning Portal spatial viewer
- NPWS Fire History, wildfires and prescribed burns, on SEED
- Port Stephens Council planning certificates
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.