Any property buyback scheme implemented by the Victorian government in fire-prone areas should involve a combination of compulsory and voluntary acquisition, a planning expert has told Crikey.

In handing down its final report on Saturday, the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommended that the Brumby government implement a scheme for non-compulsory acquisition of property in areas at high risk of bushfire.

However, Michael Buxton, RMIT associate professor in Environment and Planning, has told Crikey that the Victorian government needed to “relearn the lessons of history” and investigate proven buyback schemes that involve voluntary and compulsory acquisition.

Buxton identified the land acquisition program implemented by the Hamer and Cain governments in the Dandenong Ranges in the 1970s and 1980s as an example of a successful property acquisition scheme. That program saw the government purchase thousands of fire-prone blocks from private owners over an extended period.

“It was a combination between voluntary and compulsory acquisition,” Buxton told Crikey. “The government didn’t just go in and buy thousands of lots over a given year, they placed a development reservation over the land. When somebody wanted to sell the block, they had to sell it to the government.”

In terms of property owners getting value for their property, Buxton said that blocks identified for acquisition under the Dandenong Ranges scheme were valued as if a house could be built on the land. It cost the government more money than had they identified it as a blighted block, however it meant people got a fair return for their property.

“This was a very popular program, it gained the Cain and Hamer governments huge support,” said Buxton. “The net result was that all the land identified was bought back over time. The tragedy is that this program has been forgotten and now the Brumby government seem to think that a widespread buyback scheme would be unpopular.”

Premier John Brumby has so far resisted the idea of a buyback scheme, one of the more contentious recommendations handed down by the Royal Commission. According to reports, the cost of purchasing the 50,000 properties identified as high-risk under the commission’s recommendation has been put at $15 billion.

However, Buxton said that that the government had to act now to ensure that the development of high-risk blocks was halted to ensure fewer people were exposed to fire danger.

“People recognise the problem, what they want is a solution,” he told Crikey. “I don’t think anyone wants to get 30 years down the track and have to ask why the Brumby government didn’t act where they were told there was an issue.”

Buxton said that the community would support the idea of a buyback scheme, as long as the government implemented it correctly.

“We don’t want large-scale acquisition of land, we don’t need that. As long as development is limited on remaining blocks, through well-established accepted techniques, then we can achieve a safer community for people in fire-prone areas.”