Victoria's road verge management policies are a threat to human lives because they "fail to adequately recognise" that roads are sometimes the only escape route from a bushfire, according to a new report done after the Lancefield fire.

Allowing bushfire escape routes to build up with heavy fuel loads "presents a high risk of injury or death to people escaping a bushfire," it said.

The stark warning about roads in fire prone areas comes less than seven years after people died on Victorian roads trying to flee the catastrophic bushfires of Black Saturday.

But determining who is responsible for keeping roads safe is often unclear. Across Victoria, different government authorities, tollroad operators and in some locations power companies are responsible for roadside management.

But put simply, councils are responsible for the management of road verges along local roads, with some councils responsible for thousands of kilometres of road verge. VicRoads is responsible for the maintenance of verges along major roads.

And the threat posed by road verges containing flammable materials was expected to rise further, as more dwellings were built in remote areas, the report warned. The report was produced by the same investigation team that criticised the Victorian environment department over its handling of the Lancefield burn, a deliberately lit fire that escaped containment lines - twice - and destroyed four homes.

The new report covered issues raised during the Lancefield investigation but which fell outside its terms of reference. It was released last week but escaped attention because of the focus on the main report.

Benloch property owner Mavis Crump had bushland on her farm burnt, lost about one kilometre of fencing and two steers as the Lancefield blaze burnt more than 3000 hectares.

She said the road verges around her property contained "unacceptable fuel levels" before the fire. There were strong indications along the Burke and Wills Track near her farm, where the fire hit, of significant fuel build-up on the road verge, she said. "The intensity (of the fire) and the depth of the ash just shows how much debris had to be there," she said.

Fuel loads on local road verges that were not hit by the Lancefield fire were also too high, she said. "A lot of undergrowth. You've got fallen logs that have dried out, and then you've got undergrowth, bark, dead blackberries - on top of the pile built up over the years. And so it's just fuel for any fire coming through," she said.

She also expressed concern over a pile of dead trees left behind after the Burke and Wills Track was widened in recent years. Mrs Crump said the pile of timber was left behind at a local intersection after the project was finished.

Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said a serious discussion was needed about the management of road verges from an environmental perspective, and from a fire and safety perspective. "We've got to have the discussion with the Victorian community about what is the appropriate use of roadsides. And at the moment many people would say that they are overgrown, they're providing increased fuel loads which has increased fire intensity. And fire intensity is a key thing," he said.

Asked if he believed there was too much fuel on road verges, Mr Lapsley said: "Yes I do."

Macedon Ranges councillor Henry McLaughlin said a community discussion was needed about the management of road verges. "Everyone has a role to play in maintaining and protecting our roadsides and we need to strike the right balance between making our roads safe for drivers, preventing fires from starting on roadsides and protecting our natural environment," he said.

Cr McLaughlin said anyone concerned about a potential fire hazard on private property or roadsides should contact the council and fire management officers would inspect the site. He said the pile of timber mentioned by Mrs Crump would be inspected "as a matter of priority."

Environment Minister Lisa Neville said it was important that fire risk was managed appropriately across all land tenures. "If not appropriately managed, roadside vegetation can act as a wick that enables fire to travel through the landscape and impact on communities," she said.

Ms Neville said the environment department would "take a leadership role, working with local government, VicRoads and others, in the management of roadside vegetation in the delivery of the planned burning program - to ensure risk is effectively reduced."