posted 6 years ago
I missed the earlier post... yes, your assumption is correct, it is NW Tas. We're looking here because of the rainfall & soil....but we haven't found much anywhere near our budget in almost a year of looking! We've discounted anything surrounded by forest or with anything right next door that would use sprays or where the groundwater would likely be contaminated by something upslope...it's left us with very few options. We'd really like something > 15 acres as we'd like cattle rotated between the orchard rows.
No, unfortunately those contours are 10m apart, so it ranges from a 9 degree to a 12.9 degree slope, so yes a fire would run up there pretty fast. We have definitely had firerisk at the forefront of our minds whenever looking at properties because as I say, there hasn't been many that are not near bushland or forestry and being from the mainland we definitely don't forget about it. But I think realistically we're not going to find something that has no risk, as Roberto says, we'll just have to plan for it. I feel at least the water situation here is pretty good (& can get better with management) so hopefully we would be in a reasonable position to fight it.
It's hard for me to pick between East & West as I love morning sun but then I love afternoon sun too, and sunsets! It does have a fairly nice view, and I'm a sucker for a sunset view.
Our other option at the moment is a lovely 60 acres (similar climate, soil, 1 smallish spring fed dam & intermittent watercourse) with a NE facing slope but 1/2 of it is classed as moderate landslide hazard...so many compromises would have to be made with that one. Any buildings would need to be located up towards the top of the property which is closer to the bush that is to the west (just 1 fairly small property away), and it's a larger reserve than this one. No buildings other than a barn. We're so disheartened with our search a the moment that we're still really thinking about this one, but I think it would be a mistake, as getting permissions for things would probably be a nightmare.