Firewood in The Patch

Named for its trees

The Patch took its name in the 1860s from a stand of mountain ash that grew in one spot. In the 1890s the land was cut into 10-acre selections for unemployed city families, who lived in paling shacks and cooked over open fires. Berry growing took hold by the end of that decade. Today the town is a hall, a general store that is also the post office, a primary school, nurseries and houses.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Wikipedia: The Patch, Victoria.

Room for a stack, and a slope to carry it up

The planning maps show no residential zone in The Patch at all. Nearly all of it is green wedge land, so most properties have the space to keep a woodpile well clear of the house. The Bushfire Management Overlay covers the whole locality, and CFA's advice is no woodpile within 10 m of the house, because a summer stack is an ember trap. Put the winter load where it can stay all year.

The Erosion Management Overlay covers about three fifths of the area, so plenty of drives are steep. Tell the supplier where the wood should land and how close a truck can get.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb, CFA: Landscaping for Bushfire (version 3, June 2022) and CFA: preparing for bushfire season.

Burning off on a bush block

Yarra Ranges Council puts every address in an urban, bushland or rural burning category, and the permitted days differ between them. Look your address up on the council's burning-off page before lighting a pile of prunings. Heater smoke that bothers a neighbour is a matter for the council on 1300 368 333, and the wood smoke guide covers how to burn cleaner.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Council: burning off and Yarra Ranges Council: wood heaters, burning off and air quality.

Over the boundary

Monbulk and Kallista

Part of old Monbulk near Kallista is now inside The Patch. Same council and the same farmland and forest mix, but the bushfire overlay covers only part of each: about four fifths of Monbulk and seven tenths of Kallista.

Collecting your own is allowed only in State forest collection areas, and this spring's are all in the upper Yarra, around Powelltown and Warburton. The collecting guide lists the open dates.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Wikipedia: The Patch, Victoria, Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb, Conservation Regulator: collecting firewood and Forest Fire Management Victoria: find a firewood collection area.