Lew Short, Director
Lew Short is a recognised expert in bushfire and emergency management, land-use planning, risk mitigation, consequence management, environment and the working of government.
He has over 25 years in the emergency management and bushfire space including working for the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) for 10 years where he established, managed and lead the development and implementation of Planning for Bushfire Protection, Bushfire Prone Mapping and the development assessment function for the RFS at a State level.
Lew developed the design and implementation of Planning for Bushfire Protection at the RFS, which has become the cornerstone of all bushfire assessment and planning needs across NSW. His intimate knowledge and understanding of the technical and legislative requirements, positions Lew as the leader in this field.
No one knows the opportunities, bushfire requirements and the system better than Lew.
Lew was responsible for the assessment of over 80,000 development applications by the RFS and has represented fire services for landuse planning, community safety and construction in bushfire prone areas at both State and National levels.
Lew is accredited BPAD A provider to which Level 3 provides the highest level of skill and qualification for Alternate Solutions. Lew has extensive experience providing expert evidence at the Land and Environment Court including oral evidence, affidavit, witness statements and expert reports.
Lew has worked with Emergency Management Victoria as General Manager Risk, Consequence and Resilience and led a number of state-wide initiatives including the development of the first Community Resilience Framework for Emergency Management in Victoria. Lew was also the State Risk and Consequence Manager which is an operational role in the State Control Centre of Victoria, to lead and facilitate strategic risk management to support the Emergency Management Commissioner on an all hazards, all agencies basis.
In addition to working at senior levels in NSW and Victorian government, Lew has also worked in local government and the private sector.
View Lew Short’s profileCorey Shackleton, Principal Bushfire & Resilience
Corey Shackleton has over 16 years’ experience working in the bushfire and emergency services industry, including 14 years with the NSW Rural Fire Service.
As the Director Community Resilience, with the NSW Rural Fire Service, Corey has been responsible for the leadership, management and implementation of the NSW legislative planning framework for developments in bushfire prone areas, bushfire prone land mapping, environmental approvals, Neighbourhood Safer Places, bushfire risk management and community planning, NSW bushfire mitigation grants and fire behaviour and predictive services.
Corey has been responsible for significant advances in building capacity and resilience from bushfires at state and national levels. He is an excellent team player and enjoys exceptionally good interdepartmental and interagency relations across a wide range of disciplines.
“I want to recognise the significant contribution that Corey has made to the NSW RFS in advancing our insights into community resilience, through his leadership of a specialist team that has made considerable advancements in industry best practice. His passion for, and commitment to, tackling the challenging issues in the best interests of the community have been consistently evident and infectious. I wish him only the very best in his future endeavours and much treasured time with his family.”
Shane Fitzsimmons, Commissioner NSW Rural Fire Service
Corey brings extensive experience operating at local, state and national levels across both emergency management and land management. He has completed numerous performance based assessments and bushfire design briefs for new development in rural areas NSW.
David Lemcke, Senior Planner & Bushfire Specialist
Prior to joining Blackash, David Lemcke worked in local government for over 20 years as a town planner, bushland manager and emergency management professional. Throughout his career David has championed improvements in bushfire planning and land management policy at state and local level. David’s focus has been to improve the legislative & policy framework to give practical and cost effective on the ground results.
As a town planner and bushfire specialist David has been involved in negotiating and determining hundreds of development applications from single dwelling infill projects and subdivision, to major commercial, industrial and infrastructure projects. David has extensive Land & Environment Court experience and is adept at finding practical, sustainable and cost effective solutions to development problems.
With over 15 years’ experience working on Bush Fire Management Committees, David has established and delivered multi-million dollar Hazard Reduction works programs for council, and worked collaboratively to deliver these with private and public sector land managers. David has been a champion for innovative and practical solutions to make communities more bushfire resilient, including improved access, communications, water supplies and protection of critical infrastructure.
David has been an active NSW Rural Fire Service volunteer for 18 years with wide experience in bushfire response and recovery. He has a visceral understanding of the need to produce bushfire development solutions that can be practically maintained for the long term to protect communities and fire fighters.
He brings a wealth of knowledge of local government networks, processes and practices, and a practical approach to delivering projects.
Scott Palin, Bushfire Specialist
Scott Palin has extensive experience in the building and infrastructure sector having effectively delivered on a large range of development projects. Prior to joining Blackash, Scott spent 10 years working with one of Australia’s largest and most diverse infrastructure companies on projects both in Australia and overseas.
Having completed a Graduate Certificate in Bushfire Protection from Western Sydney University, Scott’s vision is to utilise the best practice systems and procedures developed on large complex projects, to provide practical and effective solutions for the current bushfire industry and the community for which it supports.
Scott has recently successfully completed and received his BPAD Level 2 accreditation from the Fire Protection Association of Australia.
Mark Hawkins, Senior Bushfire Consultant
Mark Hawkins has channelled a passion for bushfire and environmental science for over 20 years to become a specialist in bushfire protection planning and design.
He has a solid grounding in both practical on-ground bushfire prevention techniques and advanced performance-based solutions. Mark’s early career included tenures with the State Forests of NSW. Later he moved into environmental consultancy and then worked with the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and the EPA.
Mark has worked extensively in the bushfire planning and policy area and notably, was the project officer/lead technical writer of the Planning for Bush fire Protection 2019 document. Mark has a comprehensive knowledge of the NSW planning legislation and Australian Standards pertaining to bushfire and has delivered presentations to the NSW Planning Institute of Australia and the Fire Protection Association of Australia National Conference.
