Newsletter – Spring 2016 CLARENCE ENVIRONMENT CENTRE 31 Skinner St, South Grafton 2460 Phone / Fax 66 43 1863 Email: [email protected] Website www.cec.org.au

More Blueberry Mayhem

The Clarence Environment Centre received an anonymous report of siltation of an endangered wetland community by a new blueberry development on the upper Coldstream east of Glenugie Peak which we investigated.

The following image shows the plantation with rows running down slope so drainage runs directly into the dam and the wetlands which are just off to the right of the photograph.

The following series of photographs show a silt plume ending up in an adjacent waterhole, suggesting that the wetlands are being polluted.

We asked the Department to investigate this incident, and we'll keep you informed of any outcomes. * * * Criminality, lies and deception – now a hallmark of the blueberry industry

Since the last newsletter, when I reported on the planned blueberry plantation at Bawdens Bridge, there have been a number of developments. Firstly, objectors to the water extraction application by the proponent, which the CEC was one, received a letter from DPI Water with a copy of the consent conditions to be imposed, asking if these conditions were sufficient for them to remove their objections.

As outlined previously, the CEC had asked for a number of conditions to be placed on the granting of the licence, including compulsory metering to ensure excessive pumping didn't occur, restrictions on the trading of water licences, and a review of the Clarence River Water Sharing Plan to reflect the significant drop in flows following the closure of the Nymboida Power Station.

Unfortunately, only one of those conditions, pump metering, was included as a condition of consent. And while this is a significant concession, the addition of a clause allowing the proponents to pump double their entitlement in any single calendar year as long as they didn't exceed the maximum when averaged over a three year period was, we felt, unacceptable. We argued that this doubling-up would only occur in very dry years, when the river could least afford to loose that water. However, we were still considering the implication and whether or not to remove our objection, when the Daily Examiner dropped a bombshell in the form of what looked like a media release from , extensively quoting Council's Director environment, planning and community, Des Schroder, describing “A MASSIVE 850-hectare multinational blueberry farm that could bring up to 1200 jobs to the area”.

There are probably 850 hectares of blueberries in this image taken north of Woolgoolga

The Bawdens Bridge enterprise is controlled by a consortium with Coffs Harbour businessman, Harjap Singh Dosanjh, in partnership with Vancouver businessman Luigi Aquilini, and Mr Schroder's delight at the creation of “a multinational presence in the region” was clear with his description of Mr Aquilini as “a Rupert Murdoch figure in Canadian business circles”.

However, as the previous manager of the NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation, who presided over the over-allocation of water licenses for local rivers including the Orara, Mr Schroder should be aware of the fact that, in dry years, there is insufficient water available in that river to irrigate 850ha of blueberries.

Having sat in a face to face meeting with Harjap Dosanjh, and heard him scoff at the rumours that he planned to plant as much as 100ha of blueberries, because there simply wasn't enough water, and then read the water extraction application which clearly states the intention to irrigate only 30ha, this deception does not sit well with CEC. This is a small 10ha blueberry orchard. Imagine what 850ha would look like! The industry has been plagued with scandals in recent months, employing illegal foreign workers, and underpaying employees, then there are on-going concerns about illegal land-clearing and pollution, all of which appears to be a culture of thumbing their noses at authorities, and simply writing of fines and penalties as a cost of doing business.

The Department of Primary Industry's blueberry “Primefacts” publication identifies that: “Blueberry plants have a shallow, fibrous root system and as such require supplementary irrigation throughout the growing season. Water storage facilities of 2–3 megalitres per hectare are required for blueberry production.

That's more than 2,000ML a year for the proposed enterprise. They have already built a dam to hold their 'harvestable rights', the 60 megalitre monstrosity pictured below. The proponent has a licence to draw 66 megalitres a year from the Orara River, that still leaves 2,000 megalitres of storage required. Imagine another 20 off stream dams like that below, and where the water will come to fill them.

* * * Ode to a Knitting Nanna Please send back my Nanna Mr Baird

I miss my Nanna very bad But she wants us kids to grow up well Mum she's gone away In a land that'd clean and green And now I'm feeling very sad Not in a dead polluted Hell Hope she'll come back some day Or a poisoned water scene I asked my Dad if she was dead For coal mines spoil the farmer's land Just like my friend's old Pop And coal gas poisons water Dad just sighed and shook his head My Nanna doesn't want to hand Said, “Go and ask a cop” This mess to son or daughter That's when I knew she'd gone to gaol So Mr Baird, please listen And she did it just for me To a little grandchild's sorrow Nanna couldn't pay the bail Change back the law today please do She's on the pension, see And let Nan come home tomorrow.

Dorothy A Hillis - June 2016

In response to the Baird government's move to criminalise peaceful protest action. * * * Lack of transparency over reports of asbestos burial at the Tyson St Depot site, forces CEC to resort to GIPA The on-going asbestos drama

Our Winter newsletter reported on Council's denial of the existence of buried asbestos at the proposed new works depot site in Tyson Street, South Grafton. The reported burial, by the previous site manager, was hotly denied by Council's General Manager and the Mayor, but confirmed to the CEC by two other former Council employees, which led to our investigating the issue more closely.

Council however, hid behind a report by consultants Parsons Brinkerhoff (PB), a consultancy firm employed to check the site for various pollutants including the asbestos. However, the search area identified in the PB report appeared to show a significant discrepancy between where the former manager had initially claimed the asbestos had been buried, and the areas actually tested.

Also, a close look at what Council requested of Parsons Brinkerhoff is not reassuring, their request being spelled out in Parsons Brinkerhoff's report under “SCOPE OF WORK“ including: a) site walkover inspection to establish the Yellow and red boundaries show just how close the current site status and identify the location and school's playgrounds are to the works site volume of material which has been imported and stockpiled onsite since the writing of the 2012 ESA report. b) assess the stockpiled material and collect samples for laboratory analysis in accordance with NEPM 2013 guidelines c) assess additional areas potentially impacted by historical contamination including a mercury impacted soil burial area at Area 2A and an asbestos pipe identified in proximity to the former sludge lagoon and settlement pond, and d) undertake a pre-demolition hazardous materials survey of all above ground infrastructure onsite which are scheduled to be demolished.

Nowhere is there any request to search for buried material. In fact a late request from Councils manager of water and sewerage, Greg Mashiah, for additional drilling in the sludge pond area was apparently deemed unnecessary (by Parsons Brinkerhoff), and was never done

It all revolved around a map that was given to Council by a third party, and was then used to show PB where the search should be undertaken. To put our minds at rest, we asked Council for a copy of the map and received a direct “NO” in response. This, and the fact that Councillor Karen Thoms was also denied access to the document, persuaded us to take the matter further by way of a $30 GIPA, Government Information Public Access, (formerly Freedom of Information), requesting a copy of the advice (letters /maps etc), provided to Council by the former manager of the site, and any subsequent advice passed on to PB, in case they were different.

That GIPA was also knocked back by Council, claiming there was “an overriding public interest against its disclosure”, and that it would, “reveal or tend to reveal the identity of an informant or prejudice the future supply of information from an informant”. We believed that the potential health implications for hundreds of children using the South Grafton High School, just across the fence, was most certainly in the public interest, so we took the next step which was requesting an Internal Review of the decision, pointing out that very fact.

We also pointed out that the ex site manager's name along with his allegations of asbestos burial, had been widely reported on social media, and the future supply of information from the informant was long since prejudiced by the actions of Council's Director of Works, Troy Anderson, who wrote to the Clarence Forum's John Hagger in December 2015 claiming, “As advised previously, I would be pleased to meet with (the ex site manager) to discuss any information he may wish to provide. However, in this instance the invitation is limited to (the ex site manager) only...”, thus denying him any personal support. Not surprisingly the informant was not willing to face Council management alone.

This arrogant, bullying culture has become a hallmark off this Council in recent years, the taking away of block advertising from the Independent newspaper for publishing articles critical of Council is just one of many spiteful acts.

Somewhat to our surprise, the appeal was successful, and the map and a short email from Council to PB was provided to us, along with a letter explaining that, "under s.54 of the GIPA Act, as the information requested was provided to Council on a confidential basis, it has been necessary to consult with relevant third parties to see whether they object to the release of their information".

Imagine my surprise therefore, to learn from the informant, that he had never been asked by Council if he objected to the release of his information. He had no objection, but that's not the point. Not a good start, and a sad indictment on Council's level of transparency in this entire affair.

However, it gets worse. Within weeks of starting excavation, a process that included large numbers of machines, with dust clearly visible in the air despite the best efforts of a water tanker, work appeared to come to a virtual stand-still. When questioned, workers on site admitted that they had uncovered asbestos. A Council officer informed me that because of the pollution, work was held up until the new year and all material was being sieved, stockpiled, and will eventually be sent to for disposal.

Details of what is actually happening were scarce. However, release of the Council Papers, for the November 15 Council meeting, contained the following excerpts:

ITEM 13.062/16 - GRAFTON DEPOT RATIONALISATION PROJECT – PROJECT UPDATE AND PROJECT CONTROL GROUP MINUTES Reviewed by Acting General Manager – Ashley Lindsay

The attached Project Control Group Minutes includes the “Officer's Recommendation” that: 1. Council receive and note the minutes of the Depot and Office Rationalisation Project Control Group meeting from 2 November 2016. 2. A report be presented to a future meeting which details the appropriate treatment and cost estimate for the further remediation works resulting from the discovery of latent conditions upon the former STP site at South Grafton which will be funded from the Sewer Fund. “Latent conditions”? What is this? Ploughing through a page of “Key Issues”, we learn that the builder has encountered these “latent conditions” in the form of greater waste, organic quantity, biosolids mixed with waste, and uncontrolled fill, than was anticipated. Keep reading and we discover that the “uncontrolled fill” includes ACMs or Asbestos Containing Materials. At last Council, probably under pressure from the EPA, is taking the matter seriously, explaining that: “To ensure increased monitoring of the site, Hutchinsons Builders have installed air monitoring stations around the boundary of the site, some site staff carry individual air monitoring devices, increased watering has been undertaken and as a precautionary measure Stockpiles on site have been treated with a polymer spray to provide an increased level of safety”. However it seems the high school students are still allowed to play sports just across the fence no matter which way the wind blows.

Minutes of the PCG Meeting #3, held in Maclean, reveal there are: “Remediation Issues”, which include: 1. The sifting of the stockpiles has resulted in roughly 30% waste being separated, which is much higher than the quantity indicated in the Remediation Action Plan (RAP). The actual level of waste in the stockpiles would have been difficult to define but the estimates in the RAP were significantly lower than actual”. And then: 2. Asbestos risks were noted in the RAP but in the roughly 4,000m3 of uncontrolled fill sifted thus far around 900kg of bonded asbestos has been uncovered. All asbestos and contaminants have been managed in accordance with the Site Management Plans.”

Put simply, from a mere 4,000m3 of uncontrolled fill they have already found almost a ton of asbestos containing material. This on a site that Council assured a gullible public was “clear of asbestos”

The Papers' author, Troy Anderson, then goes on to make the extraordinary statement that “A quantity of asbestos containing material was always expected to be encountered on-site”. If this is true, someone in authority at Council needs to be called to account for wilfully misleading the public, and placing the health, and possibly lives, of residents and students at risk. The fact that the treatment of the contaminated material could cost ratepayers an additional $2.5 million is only part of council's woes, with Anderson, warning: “There is a level of risk that NSW EPA may take action with regard to waste being placed upon the site”. ------Illegalities relating to asbestos dumping aside, this entire affair reeks of corruption, or at the very least, gross incompetence. Therefore we asked that the affair be thoroughly investigated. The estimated cost of this depot was $17 million, we can only guess what the final cost will be now.

* * * Pillar Valley, and the Upper Coldstream Biodiversity Project in the spotlight

Our partners in the Upper Coldstream Biodiversity Project (UCBP), the NSW Nature Conservation Council, retained the services of a professional film maker to record some of the projects they are currently undertaking across regional NSW.

The filming took place in mid September, when the spring flowering season was at it's spectacular best, and focussed on three elements of the project the the CEC is delivering, weed eradication, landholder Thumb Orchid, Dockrillia linguiformis, with Fork engagement and re-vegetation programs, and Fern, Psilotum nudum, and Hoya australis flora and fauna data collection. Filming for he final component was undertaken at a spectacular sandstone site on the slopes of Pillar Ridge, which featured a large boulder covered with flowering orchids, including the Southern Green Fairy Orchid, one of the rarest in NSW with only 2 or three sites where the species is known to still occur, and a plethora of other epiphytes, ferns an creepers (see list below).

To date more about 1,000 species of native plants have been recorded in the project by our team, 19 of which are listed as threatened. Euclaypt diversity is exceptional with 40 Myrtaceae tree species identified, while close to 60 orchid species have so far been recorded.

And for sheer splendour, the Rock Lily, Thelychiton speciousus Possibly NSW's rarest orchid , Oberonia complanata, the Southern Green Fairy Orchid Project area statistics Total number of properties in the project 44 Total number of properties surveyed within the project area 62 Biodiversity Total number of native species identified to date ...... 990 Total number of endangered species identified to date ...... 13 Total number of vulnerable species identified to date ...... 6 Total number of rare or significant species (Sheringham/Westaway) …... 26 Total number of Nat Parks Act protected species identified to date ...... 87

Diversity Eucalypt diversity – (includes all trees of the Myrtaceae family) ...... 40 Orchid species (Orcidaceae family) ...... 59 ------On the rock Orchids Oberonia complanata - Southern Green Fairy Dockrillia linguiformis - Thumbnail Orchid Thelychiton speciousus - Rock Lily

Ferns Cheilanthes distans - Bristly Cloak Fern Cheilanthes seiberi - Rock Fern Davallia solida var. pyxidata - Hare's Foot Fern Ophioglossum pendulum - Ribbon Fern Pellaea falcata var falcata - Sickle Fern Platycerium bifurcatum - Elk Horn Psilotum Nudum - Fork Fern Pyrossia rupestris - Rock Felt Fern Other forbs – Climbers and eppiphytes Clematicissus opaca - Small-leaved Water Vine Hoya australis - Hoya Peperomia tetraphylla – Peperomia Plectranthus parviflorus - Plectranthus

* * * OLD DOG By Dorothy A. Hillis (June 2016) When they have bitten him half to death, an old dog, sick of his fleas, will die. With his last breath they too will die or desert him, hopping to another host. I wonder if the fleas feel sorry for their dying host and fellows, and organise support groups and food parcels?

Our planet, sick of man its spawning parasite And from our starving hordes will come a piteous cry Sucked dry, prepares for death and in its agony “Save us or we die, feed us or we perish” We too must die for with no surrogate host on hand Meanwhile the dog is buried in the earth Our sterile moon and barren planets stand But where is there a grave-yard for a planet? Too far away for transmigration Too costly to save our teeming population.

Editor's comment: While personally being aware of previous promises to print more 'good news' stories, we must acknowledge that our planet has a serious sustainability problem which none of our world leaders appear able to acknowledge, much less confront.

* * * Vindication

How often to you hear people preface a comment with the words “I don't want to say I told you so”, and then launch into a detailed account of what they had predicted, often with obvious satisfaction? Of course they want to say it, and that's what recently happened to Pat and I.

In many cases, and certainly this was true in our case, the phrase should be “I wish I didn't have to say I told you so”.

It revolved around the plight of endangered Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies at Shannon Creek which were the subject of considerable debate 15 years ago prior to the construction of the Shannon Creek dam. The Wallabies were just one of more than 40 threatened species that would be impacted by the dam which, when constructed, would effectively cut that local remnant population in half.

The ecological consultants for the proponent, Cumberland Ecology and Greenloaning Biostudies, undertook an 'exhaustive' assessment of the wallaby population, suggesting “that something like 120 animals occur across the broad northern area”, and then, as usual, produced a Species Impact Statement which concluded: “No significant impact is predicted as a result of the project ...” and also that: “The approved project components, access road, design modifications, power supply and upgrade of existing roads are unlikely to have a significant impact upon this species”.

They even argued that: “As presented in the original EIS/SIS, there are a number of likely benefits for fauna that will or could arise from the Regional Water Supply Project in the Shannon Creek area”, listing the cessation of cattle grazing and timber harvesting, and the reduction in fire frequency among those supposed benefits.

In the mean time, a CEC affiliate group, The Friends of Shannon Creek Action Group, employed the services of another ecologist, Ben Lewis, to assess the potential impacts of the dam on the Wallabies, whose findings concluded that there would be a significant impact leading to possible local extinction, completely contradicting the SIS conclusions. Removal of core rock-wallaby habitat on both sides of the valley for the dam wall at the animal's only safe crossing point. A 50m deep spillway cutting and mesh fencing completed the barrier

Because the Rock-wallabies are listed as endangered under the EPBC Act, the Federal Government became involved and, clearly concerned for the Rock-wallabies' well-being, ordered that a formal count be undertaken by the proponent's consultants. That count calculated a population slightly larger than the earlier prediction of 120 animals, so eventually the approval for the project was granted, with a condition that the population be monitored, as part of an 8 year million dollar plus monitoring program. A very lucrative outcome for the consultants.

At the end of the monitoring program, the Federal Government ordered another count of the wallaby population, replicating the methodology used previously. The results were depressing to say the least. No actual figure is published in the subsequent report, but we are told the estimate was around a dozen animals. So unless something is done, it seems likely we will have the best monitored extinction event yet.

The dire result came as no surprise to Pat and myself, Pat had actually written a report 12 years ago making that very prediction. Last year I accompanied National Parks staff on a walk around Chambigne Nature Reserve's escarpment rims surveying threatened plant species. During that work, which admittedly was not focused on wallabies, we failed to see a single wallaby or even a scat.

As a result of the devastating decline in the Shannon Creek Rock- wallaby population, Clarence Valley Council has obtained Save our Species (SOS) funding to attempt a rescue mission, so the “I told you so” moment came when I sent North Coast Water (now Clarence Valley Council) a copy of Pat's report responding to the original Species Impact Statement.

We have also expressed concerns over a report we had received that the same highly paid consultants that had claimed there would be no significant impact on the wallabies, and subsequently received the million dollar monitoring contract, were to now benefit once again by being chosen to deliver the SOS work. We made the point that bodgy advice such as that provided by both Cumberland Ecology and Greenloaning Biostudies, should result in some sort of penalty, and never be rewarded. We have too many ecologists who see their job as finding ways to allow projects to advance, rather than looking after the needs of threatened species. We also suggested Ben Lewis himself should be used in the upcoming work if scientific expertise is required. Clearly he had a far greater knowledge of Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby that the others.

In response, Clarence Valley Council's Greg Wilkinson, who has spent the last 8 years monitoring a range of threatened species at Shannon Creek using surveillance cameras, sent us recent photographs of Rock-wallabies with pouched young (see at left) to show that the animals are still 'hanging in there', so hopefully the SOS funding can be used Photo courtesy Greg Wilkinson, CVC effectively, and not simply blown on further useless monitoring.

* * * Our latest threatened species The Greater Glider (Petauroides volans).

In May this year the federal government approved a recommendation from the commonwealth scientific committee to list Greater Glider as a Vulnerable species under the Environment Protection & Conservation Act. Up until then only one or two populations had received protection under State legislation.

The Greater Glider is the largest of Australia's gliders, and the only one in the Petauroides genus. It was once common across the east coast from sea level to around 1,200m elevation, from far northern Queensland (P. v. minor) through NSW to central Victoria (P. v volans), with two other small isolated populations known in Queensland.

Despite its name it is a light, fragile animal, with a head and body length of just over 30cm and fine bones covered by a dense weightless fluffy coat. It has large furry ears, and a long 45-60 cm tail that helps with steering and balance but is in no way prehensile. Single The once abundant Greater Glider is now young are born between March to June each year, reach threatened with extinction as a result of sexual maturity in their second year, and have an habitat loss, mainly through logging. estimated age limit of 15 years.

Home ranges are small, averaging 1-4 ha, to 16ha in more open woodland forests, broader for males than females, and with male territories not generally overlapping. Despite their small ranges they have a low ability to disperse through fragmented and non-native vegetation. They also have a very low recovery rate from disturbance, so are highly sensitive to forest clearing and intensive logging. In 500ha of monitored State forest near Bombala the gliders declined in all logging compartments, and had not recovered eight years after the end of harvest. They also do not persist in small forest fragments, even reserves, and are highly sensitive to fire, with only areas infrequently burnt supporting a population. One isolated population was lost from the Royal National Park through fire, and in 2010 they were absent from all surveyed sites after a major wildfire in 2009. In the Jervis Bay Booderee National Park, the glider was present in 2002 at 22 sampled sites, but not found in repeated surveys since 2007.

While impossible to accurately assess current numbers, the glider is known to have declined to a pessimistic lowest estimate of just 50,000. They are still doing better where there is a good supply of tree hollows, but are absent in areas with less than 6 hollows per hectare. This means they need at least 2-4 living old-growth hollow-bearing trees for every 2 ha. Surveys also show that habitat connectivity needs to be at least 160 km2 of intact native forest to maintain a viable population (Eyre 2002).

All up, its low reproductive rate, low recovery rate, low dispersal ability, specialist diet, sensitivity to fire, and strict dependency on forest connectivity does not inspire very much hope for our Greater Gliders.

Climate change is also expected to have dire consequences for the gliders, with predictions of severe range contractions and further decline to complete loss for the northern subspecies should we reach a 3ºC temperature increase.

There are just 3 records of Greater Glider recorded on CV WIRES database, and all recent. One came from Halfway Creek in 2012, location and cause unknown. The others came from the Rushforth Road reservoir hill area, one a possible road victim, also in 2012, and the other in December last year found on a barbed- wire fence.

If anyone has any other authentic records, or any other known location information for Greater Gliders, I'd be very happy to know the details.

Pat Edwards – CV WIRES Threatened Species Reporting Officer,

* * * The Plaint of Phascolarctus cinereus

Stoned on oily eucalypt leaves, high in the cleft of a gum tree bough Snoozy Phascolarctus cinereus, indifferent to the world below For eons we let that world go by, but our creeping ghetto isolation Without a blow, without a sigh, is wiping out our population

While we Koalas are protected, our habitat is not When illegal logging fells our home, precious leaves are left to rot Starving we are forced to roam, but in the bush our fate is grim Down on the ground and helpless when daylight's getting dim We're completely at the mercy of attacking dogs and cars that speed They smash our bones, kill our young, leave us lying there to bleed.

While red-neck councillors and strutting pollies display us for the gaze Of VIPs, foreign tourists get their jollies nursing us in sanctuaries Ignoring the cause of our fearful plight, the death of our habitat Please human beings, take up the fight before Phascolarctus cinereus forever will depart. By Dorothy A. Hillis (October 2016) * * * The Haircut... Blessed are those that can give without remembering, and take without forgetting.

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you ' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door. Then a Member of Parliament came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week. 'The Member of Parliament was very happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Members of Parliament lined up waiting for a free haircut. And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it. Provided by Jan Taylor.

* * * TSR at White's Bridge, Wooli Rd

Last year, I reported to the South Grafton office of the former Pastures Protection Board, now Local Land Services (LLS), what I believed to be illegal clearing. That clearing involved the bulldozing of Acacias, and Swamp Oaks on the White's Bridge Travelling Stock Route (TSR), some of it on the highly erodible banks of Amos Creek.

I'm told that incident was investigated and found to have been illegal, and an official warning was handed out despite the offence of clearing or damaging plants in an endangered ecological community attracting fines in excess of $1,000 per plant, or even imprisonment.

I also took issue with the excessive clearing, through what was clearly Endangered Swamp Oak Forest on Coastal Floodplain, for construction of the northern fence-line.

18 months on, and the predictable explosion of every introduced weed imaginable, has occurred on that cleared corridor, including Groundsell Bush. The photograph of that weed outbreak at right, clearly shows the 40m wide cleared strip, more than triple the legally allowable width, with flattened Swamp Oaks still visible amongst the emerging weeds. I'm unaware if this illegal fence-line clearing, which must have been done either by LLS or with that agency's full knowledge and approval, resulted in any penalty or reprimand.

Whatever the case, this is not a good look, and a very poor example of general property management by the very agency charged with regulating these matters. That Groundsell Bush will be flowering within months, so we wrote to LLS, copy to Minister Blair, pointing out the advisability of its speedy removal and, at the same time, took the opportunity to once again take issue over the fence-line clearing that caused the weed problem.

Somewhat to my surprise I received the following “not our problem” response: “Thank you for your correspondence in regards to White Bridge TSR. North Coast Local Land Services (NCLLS) will take up the issue of the Groundsel bush with the Annual Grazing Permit (AGP) holder. The management of these reserves is under our control in regards to permits and illegal use. If you would like to take the issue of clearing and the removal of the swamp oaks further, it is the Office of Environment and Heritage that is the appropriate authority for illegal clearing. You can contact them by phone on 131 555 or email at [email protected]

So I took their advice and the OEH is investigating. Another official warning no doubt! I'll keep you all informed. * * * A Review of Crown Land Management,

The State Government's Legislative Council's General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 has recently released the findings of their review into the management of Crown lands, and put forward 20 recommendations.

Vacant Crown lands, which are currently managed under a wide variety of tenures, which include travelling stock routes, and water and camping reserves, that provide crucial connectivity of habitat for migrating wildlife.With the advent of climate change, this connectivity is vital. As well, something that I have confirmed while undertaking my “in-kind” contribution to the Upper Coldstream Biodiversity Project, many of these remnant portions have avoided the intensive logging, burning and grazing, which has impacted most private property over the past half century, and have thus retained high conservation value vegetation. Conservation groups have long argued against selling off Crown land, and it appears the Standing Committee has been swayed by arguments supporting the retention of Crown land in public hands, with the first Recommendation stating: 1. “That the NSW Government consider additional legislative protections to ensure Local land is retained as public land and managed in the public interest”.

There is further recognition of the High conservation value heath vegetation on crown land significant biological values retained along the Coast Range, adjacent to the Yuraygir NP. on remnant Crown land under “Committee comment” (page 44), with comments like: 4.18 “The committee acknowledges the passion of communities to fight for the preservation of Crown land. In many cases this land is important to the social fabric of our society and is of vital importance to the biodiversity of the State”. And also: 4.19 “The committee believes that any stocktake of Crown land must include a review of its local, regional and state environmental significance. The committee received numerous submissions from stakeholders that identified how important Crown land is as an environmental asset in New South Wales. Whether it was the increasingly rare vegetation retained along travelling stock routes that has been protected from clearing for agriculture or precious coastal reserves that have been protected from development, Crown land holds some of the most important environmental assets in the State”.

High conservation value wetlands on crown land near Bostock's Waterholes This, I believe is where organisations like the Clarence environment Centre have a role to play, with further recommendations such as: “Recommendation 2. That the Department of Industry – Lands prepare a strategic plan, in consultation with local governments, that establishes how Crown land will be effectively managed, maintained and resourced under the new Crown land legislative framework. Recommendation 9 That the Department of Industry – Lands undertake a stocktake of all Crown land in New South Wales before any land is transferred to local government as Local land under proposed new Crown land legislation, and Recommendation 11 That the NSW Government, when implementing the stocktake of Crown land in New South Wales at recommendation 9, must consider an audit of its ecological value including its local, regional and state environmental significance.

I have been reliably informed by various agencies that currently there are no budgeted funds available for weed control or any other management on many of these blocks, something that is badly needed. Certainly this appears to be something worth lobbying for.

There are some really worrying recommendations such as that recommending that all crown land be handed over to Local Government, which will be allowed to benefit financially from them. We envisage floodplain forest being cleared for sporting fields, or leased to tourist-based companies to build accommodation. There has also been a rumour, that those 'stocktakes' of all crown land will not be a comprehensive audit of flora, fauna, heritage and other values, but will comprise something described as a “rapid assessment process”. We envisage a couple of hard hats with high-viz jackets wandering around crown land blocks, tieing coloured tape to 'dangerous trees' and mapping the best way to build roads through them.

What would be really good, is to have the government undertake a thorough assessment of all crown land, and where important biodiversity, critical habitat linkages, and other high conservation values occur, an in-perpetuity conservation conenant be placed on that land.

* * * Surprise – surprise! “Australia could be underestimating its annual greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to the output of the nation's entire transport sector”. This was the startling finding released last month by the Melbourne Energy Institute.

According to the report, Australia's carbon accounting problem stems from a failure to include the fugitive emissions released during the ‘production’ phase of unconventional gas, i.e. gas extracted from coal seams, shale and sandstone. Currently the level of fugitive emissions is set at only 0.1% of production; in other words the authorities are conveniently ignoring them. The authors point out that this level, is in stark contrast to measurements made at US unconventional gas fields, where realistic leakage rates have been found to be as high as 17% of production, 170 times higher than Australia's assumed figure. Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is a process used to blast apart underground rock seams to release the methane, which is lighter than air and a highly potent greenhouse gas. Therefore it stands to reason that when when those rock seams are shattered, not all the gas will conveniently flow into the pipes for capture, but will seep upwards through the fractured rocks to the ground's surface and into the atmosphere.

In south-east Queensland, residents living Cracks in the rock layer caused by fracking, inside gas fields are reporting a range of allow some gas to migrate upwards and escape health problems which are consistent with the into the atmosphere as fugitive emissions inhalation of methane.

The proof of fugitive methane in the air was supported when, some three years ago, methane was found bubbling freely up through the Condamine River, and further confirmed by Southern Cross University Researchers who recorded methane levels within the gas fields many times higher than elsewhere.

Possible suggestions that the industry didn't know this would occur should be summarily Fugitive methane is clearly visible bubbling up dismissed. through Queensland's Condamine River. Any engineer would have known the risks, they simply ignored them as an expedient measure to support their grab for riches, and it's still being ignored.

This poses a serious problem for the government which has committed to the Paris agreement calling for emissions reduction because, with every new well drilled, the problem worsens, and those leaks continue for ever, even after extraction ceases and the wells are capped

* * * The consequences of logging

The photograph at right was taken along the western fall of the Coast Range in Pillar Valley, a scattering of Bangalow Palms surrounded by a mass of Lantana.

This is the disgraceful result of illegal logging undertaken less than 3 years ago, which saw magnificent, tall Eucalypts logged, leaving a wasteland that the weeds have immediately colonised.

Since September this year, the Environment Centre has been responsible for reporting three incidents of logging breaches on private property, two in Pillar Valley where our weed team has spent the last three years dealing with the consequences of past logging events.

The reality is that the contractors don't give a damn for the regulations, they move onto a property, take every log that's suitable, and if that means breaching the “Code”, so be it. They know the chances of getting caught are minimal, the authorities undertake no compliance monitoring, neighbours are reluctant to 'dob-in' neighbours, and if they're really unlucky and do get caught, all they will get is an official warning!

So if your neighbour does the wrong thing, or anyone else you hear of breaking the law, report them, it won't replace the trees or undo the destruction, but if you don't report it, these 'cowboys' will simply move on to the next property, and then the next, leaving a trail of disaster behind them.

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