He is urging residents to remove items such as leaves to reduce the risk of fire in the coming months.

"The key point is, you'll do a lot more for the safety of yourself, your family and your house with a rake rather than a chainsaw. It's the stuff on the ground that fuels the fires that you've got to get rid off.

"Cutting down trees will bring more of it down to earth, and then they've got a massive job to remove it and some people won't manage it."

Cr Mortimore, a CFA volunteer, said the State Government's 10/30 legislation had "created a lot of confusion".

He said people who thought "the best thing we can do is clear all the trees off the hills" were "speaking from a position of enormous ignorance".

However, Cr Mortimore acknowledged that some trees needed to be removed. "Our council officers take a very sympathetic view to genuine cases."

Knox is among 20 Melbourne municipalities which are exempt from the Government's 10/30 rule that allows landowners to clear vegetation around their homes for bushfire protection.

Last month, city development director Angelo Kourambas said the decision to not include Knox meant that its existing vegetation management and protection policy - including the foothills policy - applied.

He said a planning permit would need to be obtained, where required, before vegetation was removed.

Officers assessing applications based on policy would take into account the bushfire risk of the vegetation. Applications for vegetation removal were generally determined within two weeks of lodgement.

For details about vegetation removal, call 92988000.