Charles Harper Park in Helensburgh has been listed as a "last resort". Picture: ADAM McLEAN

Pinecourt Park, Lawrence Hargrave Dr, Austinmer, is a place that people can go to as a last resort during a bushfire emergency in the Illawarra.

Two northern Illawarra parks have been listed by the Rural Fire Service as "places of last resort" in a bushfire emergency.Pinecourt Park in Austinmer and Charles Harper Park in Helensburgh are the only two places listed in the Wollongong City Council area designated as RFS neighbourhood safer places.There are still no locations listed for Shellharbour City Council.

EDITORIAL: We're not out of the burning woods just yetIn Kiama, the RFS fire station and the Gerroa Fishermen's Club car park were listed as neighbourhood safer places in early December.RFS zone manager Superintendent Richard Cotterill said the RFS would continue to review the list and add new locations which fit strict criteria for neighbourhood safer places."There's been an issue with people looking at these (safer places) as a refuge-type arrangement," he said."What they are, by definition, is somewhere to go as an absolute last resort."They are for people who have done a bushfire plan, and if that plan fails they need to leave."(Neighbourhood safer places) are not places of first resort."Mr Cotterill recommended everyone have a bushfire action plan, whether it be to evacuate early or stay and defend a well designed and prepared house.If, during a bushfire, that action plan failed, that was when Mr Cotterill expected residents to use neighbourhood safer places."A bushfire action plan should have them moving well away from the area well before (the fire front hits their home) or defending well designed and constructed houses," he said.The nature of the escarpment being so close to the ocean meant there were few places in the Illawarra which met the requirements of a neighbourhood safer place, Mr Cotterill said."People need to understand these are not something that people should plan to go to," he said.Mr Cotterill said most residents could head for the nearest beach if they had nowhere else to go.

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The Illawarra parks to be aware of in case of bushfire

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