PORT Stephens Mayor Bruce MacKenzie has denied any wrongdoing in relation to an Office of Environment and Heritage investigation into land clearing on property he owns in Salt Ash. Cr MacKenzie said investigators had inspected his Lemon Tree Passage Road property after he burnt under scrub at the site before the Port's devastating October 2013 bushfires.
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He argued he was protecting the land and surrounding area from the potential spread of fire, and that large trees were left unharmed.
"In 1994 that [the land] was a raging inferno," he said.
"We lost a factory . . . a home and almost two lives.
He said he burnt off under scrub on the 40 acres of land, had invited the Rural Fire Service in the area to attend and had fire breaks surrounding the property.
He said he believed he did not needed consent because the vegetation was regrowth.
The Office of Environment and Heritage's Lawrence Orel said while he could not confirm the specifics of the investigation he did say the department was looking into alleged breaches of the Native Vegetation Act on a property in Salt Ash.