Mel Gajdek, of Dandenong Ranges Community Bushfire Group, said she was "unbelievably frustrated" that no refuges or neighbourhood safer places had been identified.

"Why is there no progress in a year [since the bushfires royal commission]? I don't know understand how there can be so little action nor why it has been so hard.

"I feel like I've got a calloused forehead because I've been hitting brick walls all the time."

She feared a catastrophic toll would occur if no community refuges were found. It was not realistic to expect all 15,000 residents, plus visiting tourists, to leave on code-red days, she said.

"Isn't it criminally negligent when the [bushfires] royal commission makes recommendations for safer places?"

She said residents were considering a class action if no NSPs or refuges could be identified before a bushfire disaster occurs in the hills.

She said residents would, in any case, flee to Olinda Community House - a site with sprinklers, a battery-operated pump and shutters that could house about 200 but was not NSP-compliant.

"It just needs a bit of vegetation management. You do what needs to be done," Ms Gajdek said.

The nearest NSP is in Upwey.

Yarra Ranges councillor Noel Cliff said the council needed a "bucketful of money", clear building standards and liability protection from the state government to set up NSPs.

"If the shire goes off and does it on its own, it's not covered legally. [If no NSPs are identified] I imagine the way litigation is going, we could be sued.

"I think it's an incredibly hard problem and I don't envy the government. But we should be going gangbusters to solve it."

CFA spokesman Gerard Scholten said NSPs were difficult to establish in high-fire-risk areas. "They are places of very last resort and have to meet very strict conditions, which relate to access and protection from radiant heat."

A spokeswoman for Bushfire Response Minister Peter Ryan said NSPs were one of several bushfire safety options, including refuges, being considered for the Dandenong Ranges.

She said councils had a defence to liability arising from the use of a NSP where a reasonable plan was in place.