BANNING planning permits in areas of Mt Helen and Mt Clear is crucial to preventing a Black Saturday style blaze, the region's leading fire officer says.Country Fire Authority regional manager Don Kelly said the CFA, DSE, council and local government members were all working together to find a long-term solution to help residents build on blocks near the pine plantation or gold fields, which have been deemed unsafe.More than 170 Ballarat block owners have been affected by the Wildfire Management Overlay, which came into effect in 2009.Landowners in the Mt Helen Sanctuary Estate and along Tinworth Avenue in Mt Clear have expressed their frustration at their inability to move forward with plans to build their dream homes.Yet Mr Kelly said it was important to ensure they found a long term safety solution to protect existing residents and those who hope to build there. "The reason the WMO was put in place was to provide protection for a number of inappropriate subdivisions that wouldn't get through today because they are a fire hazard to the people in them," he said. "We don't want another Black Saturday, we don't want people to be in houses that can't be protected."One solutions is a buffer, with the goldfields and pine plantations to cut back trees encroaching on residential areas."The fires on February 7, plus the Canberra fires and the fires in Bendigo were all ones which had forests near to residents. These people want to build in the flame zone. "I acknowledge that there are houses there already, so we need to protect those existing houses and make sure the safety is there for the long term."Earlier this week Ballarat City Council announced it was seeking urgent legal advice to see whether it could order the owners of the pine plantation and the goldfields to create a buffer zone under the Forest Code of Practice.Ballarat East MP Geoff Howard said he believed council was in a position to do so using its Municipal Fire Management Plan.But Liberal candidate for Ballarat Ben Taylor said something should have been done months ago to allow people to proceed with their planning permits.“In all cases, the landowners are prepared to do whatever it takes to have appropriate fire prevention measures in place,” he said. “The last thing they want is to put their families, and their homes, in harms way.”The CFA is currently preparing for the bushfire season with planned fuel reduction burns, vegetation management and community information programs.