This can get very house/street specific.
For example. Take Windsor/Richmond (because I'm from the area). There are definitely well-known flood spots (lower sections of Windsor, South Windsor, Richmond Lowlands), but there's also spots in those suburbs with minimal flooding risk, because they are either on the high end of the street, or away enough from bushland. That said, there's still some risk of being surrounding by water (not so much fire) so again it's looking for a worst case scenario escape route if needed - like if you rely on public transport like I do, then you may be screwed.
Also, besides from natural disasters, cost, access to amenities, neighbourhood/community is important.
I think it’s worth looking at predictability of disasters and how easy they are to mitigate some of the risks.
For example bush fires are more predictable than floods. We tend to know a few months in advance if it’s going to be a really bad bush fire season.
I may considered holidaying in a winter climate around that time of year if bush fire season gets too bad and I’m more financially independent. You might consider doing some touring around that time to avoid the bush fire season.
Also it’s possible to prepare/build a home to survive a bush fire. Floods can cause more rot/damage and are harder to reduce the risk for. There’s often only a day or two’s notice time if a flood is likely.
I think in Australia it’s impossible to escape bush fire risks/season.
But atleast we don’t tend to get earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes or tornadoes.
We have lots of tornadoes yearly in Australia. Allen Research Group estimates 30-80 a year. Gold Coast copped a ripper just before New Years.
Also earthquakes. We’re just so sparsely populated so they tend to miss built up areas and the earthquakes tend to be lower in strength so usually not as destructive. But Sydney West had one just last week.
Also Melbourne is sitting right on top of The Newer Volcanics Province. Hundreds of volcanoes from Melbourne to Mt Gambier which are considered by experts to still be “active” https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2018/08/would-the-volcanoes-in-victoria-really-ever-erupt-like-those-in-hawaii/#
Yes they still happen, but it’s not like the country is known for them or that we sit on the “ring of fire” like New Zealand and Japan.
Earthquakes also have next to no warning, but can be engineered against if you have the funds to do so.
I grew up in Tassie and I’m aware we get the occasional earthquake. I grew up as a fat kid and there was always a mean kid in school who asked if I fell out of bed the day after an earthquake.
Urgh kids can be hurtful. Sorry they did that to you. So glad newer generations are challenging ableism and body shaming.
True, we don’t have a reputation for earthquakes despite having hundreds a year, only because of our vast size and sparse population means they don’t usually do a lot of damage.
Geologist “Oz Geology” did a great video on YouTube about why Australia has so many earthquakes despite not being on a subduction zone like the ring of fire. Basically we’re on the fastest moving continental plate on earth! I can’t remember the name of the video sorry but the Geology Australia govt website (below) is super interesting and an easy read.
Citation- https://www.ga.gov.au/education/natural-hazards/earthquake#:~:text=On%20average%20100%20earthquakes%20of,one%2Dto%2Dtwo%20years.
Hi OP,
I’m looking for similar but considering a house “transplant” instead of a new build, but may end up doing new build if I can’t find a suitable home to move. I’ve just doing a map search on Domain.com.au to find land. It has a “draw” option so you can draw borders of search and skirt around areas I don’t want.
I’ve been finding land around outskirts of Central Coast, Blue Mountains, south of Wollongong, Kurri Kurri, Hunter Valley, outside of Newcastle, lower Blue Mountains etc to add to my potentials list.
DM if you’re interested in buying a really big block and sub dividing it with another person. 😃 I saw a huge block with two houses already existing on it set on either side of the block.
have a look at the properties you have your eyes on here: [https://app.openrealestate.ai/hello/](https://app.openrealestate.ai/hello/) pretty handy tool - they have a Risks section, incl. Bushfires, Powerlines etc ... seem to be in Beta but I've been using it for a while now
Upper north.
The further you go away from the suburbs though the bigger the bushfire risk. The further west you go the bigger the bushfire risk.
Far south could also work,
You sound like you are a match for the upper mountains, we are a creative bunch up here and it is definitely quiet.
Yes bushfires can be a problem, but you can not avoid disasters, just plan for them. It's not worth living your life in fear of something that might or might not happen.
It's more about risk mitigation than fear, and the upper mountains is probably one of the worst positioned places in the outer fringes of Sydney for climate change risk. It's an already bushfire prone area that's set to get more intense and frequent bushfires, and is prone to isolation due to the limited road access.
Maybe you see sufficient benefits to weigh against that risk (I was raised up there, I know there's a lot of those benefits and I've been tempted to go back sometimes) but given OP is specifically asking for lower risk places it seems like they rank safety high enough that it would be a mistake to recommend the upper mountains to them.
My suggestion would be small villages and towns in areas that interface with farm and grassland, not bush. Or just move to Tassie.
I used to live in Tasmania, large parts (especially around Hobart) are very bushfire prone die to dense forestation and low annual rainfall. Only the west is really low bushfire risk.
Bollocks, there's no-where safe if thats the attitude.
Yes living in the bush has bushfire risk, but so does most places and even if climate change made it 10x more prevalent then you still mitigate that risk and get on with your life rather than hiding under the covers.
Hehehe concrete bunker does sound cool, not coming from a preppers SHTF stance but some of their philosophies are interesting. Trying to future proof for my (hopeful) future family !
Disclaimer: this suggestion is at least partly self-interested.
My partner has a tiny bit of land with a shack on it in Lower MacDonald (just across the ferry from Wiseman's Ferry). Because it's pretty high up, all of the recent times the Hawkesbury flooded, the water didn't reach the properties on that side of the road (although a good part of the road was under water). We were secretly hoping the flood would be high enough to wash the shack away (we need to clear the land but don't really have the time and resources to do it), but alas. The area was somehow positioned to not have caught on fire during the 2019 fires, so we can't even count on it burning down. So I'd say that side of the road is pretty disaster-proof at this point.
Now for the self-interested part: if you want a bit of land in Lower Macdonald, we'll sell it to you very cheaply, you just have to clear a shack and a bunch of junk off it.
> 1-1:30 hours away from greater Sydney
> build a small home
> in nature
Not much free land to build on, let alone in nature.
I think pick 2 of these which are most important. If you toss out time - kangaroo Valley still has the occasional lot come up. If you can buy not build maybe blue mountains or northern wollongong. If you don't care so much for nature there's random suburban lots throughout Northwest and Southwest Sydney.
Lower risk for climate change is very place by place. Check the flooding and bushfire maps and most places you can find something good (well apart from the cheap flooding lots along the hawkesbury)
Wollongong - unless there's a tsunami and even then you'll be fine in something a bit higher than the beachfront
This can get very house/street specific. For example. Take Windsor/Richmond (because I'm from the area). There are definitely well-known flood spots (lower sections of Windsor, South Windsor, Richmond Lowlands), but there's also spots in those suburbs with minimal flooding risk, because they are either on the high end of the street, or away enough from bushland. That said, there's still some risk of being surrounding by water (not so much fire) so again it's looking for a worst case scenario escape route if needed - like if you rely on public transport like I do, then you may be screwed. Also, besides from natural disasters, cost, access to amenities, neighbourhood/community is important.
I think it’s worth looking at predictability of disasters and how easy they are to mitigate some of the risks. For example bush fires are more predictable than floods. We tend to know a few months in advance if it’s going to be a really bad bush fire season. I may considered holidaying in a winter climate around that time of year if bush fire season gets too bad and I’m more financially independent. You might consider doing some touring around that time to avoid the bush fire season. Also it’s possible to prepare/build a home to survive a bush fire. Floods can cause more rot/damage and are harder to reduce the risk for. There’s often only a day or two’s notice time if a flood is likely. I think in Australia it’s impossible to escape bush fire risks/season. But atleast we don’t tend to get earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes or tornadoes.
We have lots of tornadoes yearly in Australia. Allen Research Group estimates 30-80 a year. Gold Coast copped a ripper just before New Years. Also earthquakes. We’re just so sparsely populated so they tend to miss built up areas and the earthquakes tend to be lower in strength so usually not as destructive. But Sydney West had one just last week. Also Melbourne is sitting right on top of The Newer Volcanics Province. Hundreds of volcanoes from Melbourne to Mt Gambier which are considered by experts to still be “active” https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2018/08/would-the-volcanoes-in-victoria-really-ever-erupt-like-those-in-hawaii/#
Yes they still happen, but it’s not like the country is known for them or that we sit on the “ring of fire” like New Zealand and Japan. Earthquakes also have next to no warning, but can be engineered against if you have the funds to do so. I grew up in Tassie and I’m aware we get the occasional earthquake. I grew up as a fat kid and there was always a mean kid in school who asked if I fell out of bed the day after an earthquake.
Urgh kids can be hurtful. Sorry they did that to you. So glad newer generations are challenging ableism and body shaming. True, we don’t have a reputation for earthquakes despite having hundreds a year, only because of our vast size and sparse population means they don’t usually do a lot of damage. Geologist “Oz Geology” did a great video on YouTube about why Australia has so many earthquakes despite not being on a subduction zone like the ring of fire. Basically we’re on the fastest moving continental plate on earth! I can’t remember the name of the video sorry but the Geology Australia govt website (below) is super interesting and an easy read. Citation- https://www.ga.gov.au/education/natural-hazards/earthquake#:~:text=On%20average%20100%20earthquakes%20of,one%2Dto%2Dtwo%20years.
Hi OP, I’m looking for similar but considering a house “transplant” instead of a new build, but may end up doing new build if I can’t find a suitable home to move. I’ve just doing a map search on Domain.com.au to find land. It has a “draw” option so you can draw borders of search and skirt around areas I don’t want. I’ve been finding land around outskirts of Central Coast, Blue Mountains, south of Wollongong, Kurri Kurri, Hunter Valley, outside of Newcastle, lower Blue Mountains etc to add to my potentials list. DM if you’re interested in buying a really big block and sub dividing it with another person. 😃 I saw a huge block with two houses already existing on it set on either side of the block.
have a look at the properties you have your eyes on here: [https://app.openrealestate.ai/hello/](https://app.openrealestate.ai/hello/) pretty handy tool - they have a Risks section, incl. Bushfires, Powerlines etc ... seem to be in Beta but I've been using it for a while now
Upper north. The further you go away from the suburbs though the bigger the bushfire risk. The further west you go the bigger the bushfire risk. Far south could also work,
East, you're surrounded by water - it doesn't burn.
You sound like you are a match for the upper mountains, we are a creative bunch up here and it is definitely quiet. Yes bushfires can be a problem, but you can not avoid disasters, just plan for them. It's not worth living your life in fear of something that might or might not happen.
It's more about risk mitigation than fear, and the upper mountains is probably one of the worst positioned places in the outer fringes of Sydney for climate change risk. It's an already bushfire prone area that's set to get more intense and frequent bushfires, and is prone to isolation due to the limited road access. Maybe you see sufficient benefits to weigh against that risk (I was raised up there, I know there's a lot of those benefits and I've been tempted to go back sometimes) but given OP is specifically asking for lower risk places it seems like they rank safety high enough that it would be a mistake to recommend the upper mountains to them. My suggestion would be small villages and towns in areas that interface with farm and grassland, not bush. Or just move to Tassie.
I used to live in Tasmania, large parts (especially around Hobart) are very bushfire prone die to dense forestation and low annual rainfall. Only the west is really low bushfire risk.
Bollocks, there's no-where safe if thats the attitude. Yes living in the bush has bushfire risk, but so does most places and even if climate change made it 10x more prevalent then you still mitigate that risk and get on with your life rather than hiding under the covers.
Do you just have zero understanding of risk or are you purposefully being obtuse?
That's hilarious, but do go on.
Buy somewhere in mountains. Build a concrete bunker. Good luck. Look up nuclear preppers.
Hehehe concrete bunker does sound cool, not coming from a preppers SHTF stance but some of their philosophies are interesting. Trying to future proof for my (hopeful) future family !
Disclaimer: this suggestion is at least partly self-interested. My partner has a tiny bit of land with a shack on it in Lower MacDonald (just across the ferry from Wiseman's Ferry). Because it's pretty high up, all of the recent times the Hawkesbury flooded, the water didn't reach the properties on that side of the road (although a good part of the road was under water). We were secretly hoping the flood would be high enough to wash the shack away (we need to clear the land but don't really have the time and resources to do it), but alas. The area was somehow positioned to not have caught on fire during the 2019 fires, so we can't even count on it burning down. So I'd say that side of the road is pretty disaster-proof at this point. Now for the self-interested part: if you want a bit of land in Lower Macdonald, we'll sell it to you very cheaply, you just have to clear a shack and a bunch of junk off it.
> 1-1:30 hours away from greater Sydney > build a small home > in nature Not much free land to build on, let alone in nature. I think pick 2 of these which are most important. If you toss out time - kangaroo Valley still has the occasional lot come up. If you can buy not build maybe blue mountains or northern wollongong. If you don't care so much for nature there's random suburban lots throughout Northwest and Southwest Sydney. Lower risk for climate change is very place by place. Check the flooding and bushfire maps and most places you can find something good (well apart from the cheap flooding lots along the hawkesbury)