Environmental Assessment Report Heritage Park Phase 2 Environmental Assessment Report Prepared for Rockingham Park c/o Mortons Urban Solutions by Strategen April 2016 Heritage Park Phase 2 Environmental Assessment Report Strategen is a trading name of Strategen Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd Level 1, 50 Subiaco Square Road Subiaco WA 6008 ACN: 056 190 419 April 2016 Disclaimer and Limitation This report has been prepared for the exclusive use of the Client, in accordance with the agreement between the Client and Strategen (“Agreement”). Strategen accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for it in respect of any use of or reliance upon this report by any person who is not a party to the Agreement. In particular, it should be noted that this report is a qualitative assessment only, based on the scope of services defined by the Client, budgetary and time constraints imposed by the Client, the information supplied by the Client (and its agents), and the method consistent with the preceding. Strategen has not attempted to verify the accuracy or completeness of the information supplied by the Client. Copyright and any other Intellectual Property arising from the report and the provision of the services in accordance with the Agreement belongs exclusively to Strategen unless otherwise agreed. This document may not be reproduced or disclosed to any person other than the Client without the express written authority of Strategen unless the document has been released for referral and assessment of proposals. Client: Rockingham Park c/o Mortons Urban Solutions Revision Strategen Submitted to Client Report Version Purpose No. author/reviewer Form Date Preliminary Draft Report A Client review S.Isbister / electronic 16 March 2016 D.Newsome Final Report B Submission to Client S.Isbister / electronic 6 April 2016 D.Newsome Filename: RPA15010_01 R001 Rev B Strategen was commissioned by Rockingham Park Pty Ltd (Rockingham Park) to prepare an Environmental Assessment Report (EAR) for Lots 986 & 993 Baldivis Road, Baldivis, [‘Heritage Park – Phase 2 (‘the site’)] for the purposes of supporting the development of a Structure Plan. The site is adjacent to the Kwinana Freeway and the western boundary of the site is bordered by the regional Tramway Reserve. Urban development is adjacent to the north and Serpentine Road and rural properties are adjacent to the south. One of the rural properties to the south supports low intensity horse related activities. Given the separation and low intensity of use, this land use does not represent a potential source of conflict (dust, noise odour) to the proposed urban development. The site has historically been used for agricultural purposes and as such, the majority of the site is devoid of native vegetation. A flora and vegetation survey was undertaken by ENV Australia Pty Ltd (ENV) on site in March 2007. Two targeted flora surveys have been undertaken on the site. ENV undertook a targeted flora survey in 2013, however given the survey was undertaken in late spring (19 November 2013) a second targeted survey was undertaken by Strategen on 20 October 2014. Neither of the surveys identified any flora of conservation significance on the site. There is a portion of open woodland in the central south of the site and this has been recorded as ‘Eucalyptus rudis subsp. rudis over Astartea fascicularis and weeds’ that exists in a ‘Degraded’ to ‘Completely Degraded’ condition. A significant portion of this vegetation is proposed to be retained in an area of POS and utilised in the site’s drainage management solutions as well as adopting the strategies outlined in the DWMS. This will ensure the trees continue to receive the appropriate volumes of water post-development and in particular, are not flooded for prolonged periods. A black cockatoo habitat assessment was undertaken on site by ENV in 2013 to determine the presence of foraging, breeding or roosting habitat for black cockatoo species. A follow up survey was undertaken by Strategen in 2014 to confirm the findings. Foraging habitat is limited to a total of 5 species. These species occur in low numbers in the degraded vegetated portion of the Multiple Use wetland and also as isolated trees (Marri and Jarrah). A total of four large trees were classified as being potential roosting sites in the survey area as they were of suitable height (12 to 25 m) and contained a dense canopy, however no roosting evidence (droppings or feathers) was recorded around the trees. The survey area contains three Marri, three Jarrah and twelve Flooded Gum trees that have suitable dimensions to be classified as potential breeding habitat (a total of 18 potential breeding trees). One Jarrah supports a hollow that is of suitable size for breeding. There is no visible evidence that the hollow is or has been used for breeding by black cockatoos. Landscaping of the development will be undertaken with native vegetation and existing remnant vegetation will be retained where practicable. The site is low lying, with the topography ranging from 7m AHD in the north western portion of the site to 3m AHD in the south eastern part of the site. The eastern half of the site is mapped by the Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) as a ‘Multiple Use’ wetland and this area becomes seasonally waterlogged during the wetter months. A Preliminary Site Investigation (PSI) has been undertaken for the site and this determined there were no factors which suggest any evidence of contamination and therefore there is no requirement for further contamination investigations to be undertaken. DPaW has mapped the Acid Sulfate Soil (ASS) risk for the site as ‘low to moderate’. There are risks of exposing ASS’s during excavation and dewatering activities due to the low lying nature of the site, the close depth to groundwater and known presence of ASS in the locality (i.e. as experience during construction of Phase 1 Heritage Park). An assessment of the likelihood of encountering ASS will be undertaken at the subdivision approval stage once details of excavation and dewatering activities are understood. If ASS is determined to be a risk, appropriate management and monitoring responses will be developed. A District Water Management Strategy (DWMS) has been prepared for the site (ENV, 2013) to support the rezoning of the land. Protection of the hydrological characteristics of the site is deemed the most important environmental factor for the site, and as such, many of the management strategies being implemented are related to this factor. A Local Water Management Strategy will be prepared and lodged as part of the Structure Plan. During the subdivision stage(s) an Urban Water Management Plan(s) will be prepared in accordance with the Better Urban Water Management 2008 Guidelines. ! 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Project description 1 1.2 Background context 1 1.3 Location and land use 1 1.4 Objectives 2 1.5 Structure 2 2. Legislative framework 5 2.1 Relevant planning framework 5 2.1.1 Metropolitan Region Scheme 5 2.1.2 City of Rockingham Town Planning Scheme No.2 District Zoning Scheme 5 2.2 Relevant environmental framework 5 2.2.1 Commonwealth legislation 5 2.2.2 State legislation, guidelines and standards 5 2.2.3 Local Scheme Provisions and Requirements 6 3. Existing environment 7 3.1 Topography, geology and soils 7 3.1.1 Topography 7 3.1.2 Geology and soils 7 3.2 Acid Sulfate Soils 7 3.2.1 Regional Acid Sulfate Soils Mapping 7 3.3 Potential contamination 11 3.4 Surrounding land uses 11 3.5 Hydrology 11 3.5.1 Wetlands 11 3.5.2 Surface hydrology 12 3.5.3 Groundwater 12 3.6 Flora and vegetation 16 3.6.1 Previous flora and vegetation investigations 16 3.6.2 General Vegetation Description 16 3.6.3 Vegetation Complex 16 3.6.4 Flora and Vegetation of Conservation Significance 19 3.7 Native fauna 20 3.7.1 Conservation significant listed species 20 3.8 Heritage 25 3.8.1 Aboriginal 25 3.8.2 European 25 4. Development proposal 27 5. Potential environmental impacts and management commitments 28 5.1 Surrounding Land Uses 28 5.1.1 Kwinana freeway 28 5.1.2 Horse stables 28 5.1.3 Baldivis Tramway Reserve 31 5.2 Hydrology 35 5.3 Flora and vegetation 35 5.4 Black Cockatoos 36 5.5 Acid sulfate soils 36 5.6 Contamination 36 5.7 Aboriginal heritage 36 6. Conclusions 38 7. References 39 ! Table 1: Mean in-situ pH and electrical conductivity measures for bores on the site 15 Table 2: Mean nutrient results from samples taken from bores on the site. 15 Table 3: Mean metal concentration results taken from the bores on the site 16 Table 4: Conservation significant flora species identified as potentially occurring within 5 km of the site 19 Table 5: Conservation significant fauna identified in DPAW Database search (May 2013) 22 Table 6: Native Fauna ‘Matters of National Environmental Significance’ listed under EPBC Act 24 Figure 1: Site location 3 Figure 2: Site layout 4 Figure 3: Topography 8 Figure 4: Geology 9 Figure 5: Acid Sulfate Soil Risk 10 Figure 6: Wetlands 13 Figure 7: Groundwater Mapping 14 Figure 8: Surrounding land uses and heritage sites 26 Figure 9: Aerial view of Lot 1272 Baldivis Road and Lot 1 Serpentine Road 30 Figure 10: Landscape Master Plan 33 Figure 11: Native Vegetation 37 Appendix 1 Environmental Assessment – ENV 2007 Appendix 2 Black Cockatoo Habitat and Conservation Significant Flora Assessment – Greencap 2014 Appendix 3 Conservation Significant Flora and Black Cockatoo habitat Assessment – Strategen 2014 " # $% !& Rockingham Park Pty Ltd (the client) is planning on developing Lots 986 & 993 Baldivis Road, Baldivis, (the site) for the purpose of residential subdivision (Figure 1).