Environmental Impact Statement
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APPENDIX 8 Ecological Assessment Williamtown Sand Syndicate Pty Ltd ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT Proposed Sand Quarry, Cabbage Tree Road, Williamtown FINAL November 2015 Williamtown Sand Syndicate Pty Ltd ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT Proposed Sand Quarry, Cabbage Tree Road, Williamtown FINAL Prepared by Umwelt (Australia) Pty Limited on behalf of Williamtown Sand Syndicate Pty Ltd Project Director: Peter Jamieson Project Manager: Peter Jamieson Technical Director: Allison Riley Report No. 3251/R05/FINAL Date: November 2015 Newcastle 75 York Street Teralba NSW 2284 Ph. 02 4950 5322 www.umwelt.com.au This report was prepared using Umwelt’s ISO 9001 certified Quality Management System. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Overview 1 1.1.1 Background to the project 1 1.1.2 Location of the project 2 1.1.3 Overview of the project 5 1.2 Objectives of ecological assessment 5 1.3 Relevant legislation and guidelines 6 1.3.1 Relevant guidelines, frameworks and policies 7 2.0 Regional setting 8 2.1 Physiography, geology and soils 8 2.2 Vegetation types and plant species 8 2.3 Fauna habitats and species 8 2.4 Conservation area and connectivity 9 3.0 Methods 11 3.1 Literature review 11 3.1.1 Ecological Constraints and Opportunities Report, 398 Cabbage Tree Road, Williamtown (RPS 2011) 11 3.1.2 Vegetation of the Tomago and Tomaree Sandbeds, Port Stephens NSW (Driscoll and Bell 2006) 12 3.1.3 Lower Hunter and Central Coast Regional Environmental Management Strategy Vegetation Mapping 12 3.1.4 Ecology Report for the Airport/Defence Related Employment Zone (Williamtown) (GHD 2007) 12 3.1.5 Port Stephens Council Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management (2002) 13 3.2 Database searches 15 3.3 Flora survey methods 15 3.3.1 Digital Aerial Photograph Interpretation (DAPI) 15 3.3.2 Field survey site selection and stratification 16 3.3.3 Flora field survey 16 3.3.4 Targeted threatened flora surveys 20 3.3.5 Field survey timing 22 3.3.6 Threatened ecological community assessment techniques 23 3.3.7 Summary and adequacy of flora field survey effort 24 3.4 Terrestrial fauna survey 26 3.4.1 RPS fauna surveys 2011 26 3.4.2 Umwelt fauna surveys 2013, 2014 and 2015 27 3.4.3 Habitat and condition assessments 31 ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 3251_R05_Ecological Assessment _FINAL.docx 3.4.4 Terrestrial fauna survey timing and effort 32 4.0 Survey results 39 4.1 Flora survey results 39 4.1.1 Flora species 39 4.1.2 Vegetation communities in the proposed disturbance area 39 4.1.3 Threatened flora species, endangered flora populations and threatened ecological communities 52 4.2 Fauna survey results 61 4.2.1 Fauna habitat 61 4.2.2 Fauna species recorded 62 4.2.3 Threatened fauna species and endangered fauna populations 66 4.2.4 Migratory species listed under international conventions 73 4.3 Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems 74 5.0 Impact assessment 75 5.1 Project changes to avoid and minimise impacts 75 5.2 Impact of the project on ecological values 76 5.2.1 Summary of ecological values 76 5.3 Impact of the project on flora species 76 5.4 Impact of the project on vegetation communities 77 5.4.1 Impact on forest and woodland communities 78 5.4.2 Impact on heath communities 78 5.5 Impact of the project on fauna habitat and fauna species 78 5.5.1 Woodland and Forest Habitat 78 5.5.2 Wet heath habitat 79 5.6 Impact of the project on threatened species, populations and ecological communities 79 5.6.1 Threatened species assessed under the Environmental Planning and Assessment (EP&A) Act 1979 83 5.6.2 Threatened Species Assessed Under the Fisheries Management (FM) Act 1994 83 5.6.3 Threatened Species Assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999 83 5.6.4 Migratory species assessed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999 85 5.6.5 Assessment of impacts on koala habitat against the Port Stephens Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management (CKPoM) 2002 85 5.7 Impact on groundwater dependent ecosystems 86 5.8 Impacts of the Project on adjacent conservation areas 86 5.9 Impacts on corridors and connectivity 87 6.0 Impact mitigation strategy 88 6.1 General impact mitigation measures 88 ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 3251_R05_Ecological Assessment _FINAL.docx 6.1.1 Weed control 88 6.1.2 Sediment and erosion control 88 6.2 Protection and management or arboreal species and habitat 88 6.2.1 Nest box establishment 89 6.3 Specific mitigation measures for koala 90 6.4 Conservation area protection measures 90 6.5 Rehabilitation 91 7.0 Biodiversity Offset Strategy 92 7.1 The relevance of biodiversity offsetting 92 7.2 Relevant biodiversity offsetting policies 92 7.2.1 Background 92 7.2.2 NSW offsetting principles and policies 93 7.2.3 Commonwealth environmental offsets policy 93 7.3 Biodiversity offset objectives 95 7.4 Biodiversity offsetting pathways to be considered 95 8.0 References 97 Figures Figure 1.1 Locality Plan 3 Figure 1.2 Proposed Quarry Operations 4 Figure 2.1 Regional Setting 10 Figure 3.1 Koala Habitat within the Project Area (Port Stephens CKPoM) 14 Figure 3.2 Flora Survey Effort 17 Figure 3.3 Fauna Survey Effort 30 Figure 4.1 Vegetation Communities 41 Figure 4.2 Threatened Flora Species within the Project Area 53 Figure 4.3 Areas disturbed during Heavy Mineral Sand Mining 56 Figure 4.4 Threatened Fauna Species within the Project Area 65 Figure 4.5 Koala Habitat within the Project Area (Mapped by Umwelt) 70 Figure 5.1 Application of the Precautionary Principle to the Impact Assessment and Development of Mitigation and Offset Strategies 80 ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 3251_R05_Ecological Assessment _FINAL.docx Appendices Appendix A Constraints and Opportunities Report RPS (2011) Appendix B Threatened Species Assessment Appendix C Flora Species List Appendix D Fauna Species List Appendix E TSC Act Assessment of Significance Appendix F EPBC Act Assessment of Significance Appendix G Assessment of Impact on Koala Habitat under the Port Stephens Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management Appendix H Site-specific Koala Plan of Management ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 3251_R05_Ecological Assessment _FINAL.docx 1.0 Introduction Williamtown Sand Syndicate Pty Ltd proposes to develop a sand quarry at Cabbage Tree Road, Williamtown, approximately three kilometres south-west of Newcastle Airport (refer to Figure 1.1). The land is owned by Port Stephens Council (PSC) and the extraction of sand on site will be undertaken under a lease agreement with PSC. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been prepared for the Project to accompany a Project Application following Department of Planning and Environment (DP&E) issuing Director-General’s Requirements (DGRs) for the Project in October 2013. The following Ecological Assessment was prepared to meet the Director-General’s Environmental Impact Statement requirements in relation to ecological issues for the Project. 1.1 Overview Umwelt (Australia) Pty Limited (Umwelt) has been engaged by Williamtown Sand Syndicate to prepare an EIS as part of the development application for the proposed Cabbage Tree Road Quarry (the Project). Williamtown Sand Syndicate is seeking development consent to extract a total of up to approximately 3.32 million tonnes (Mt) of sand from the site at an extraction rate of up to 600,000 tonnes per annum (tpa). The proposed quarry operations would include extraction from Lot 1 in DP 224587, Lot 121 in DP 556403, Lot 11 in DP 629503, and Lot 1012 in DP 814078; referred to collectively as the ‘Project Area’. PSC has estimated there is approximately 4.6 Mt of dune sand (including the organic layer) accessible within the Project Area. Under the agreement, sand extraction is only available above the 4 metres Australian Height Datum (m AHD) contour and outside of the area reserved for a wildlife corridor. PSC identified three areas within the Project Area containing the sand resource as shown in Figure 1.2. The Project would involve the extraction of up to 600,000 tpa of sand and therefore meets the criteria listed in Schedule 1 clause 7(1)(a) of State Environmental Planning Policy (State and Regional Development) 2011 for assessment as ‘state significant development’ under Section 89C of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act). The Minister for Planning and Environment will be the determining authority for this development application. 1.1.1 Background to the project In March 2002 PSC purchased the four allotments comprising the Project Area from Rutile and Zircon Mines. Several approaches were made to PSC by interested parties in relation to undertaking sand extraction from the site. Under a ‘Permit to Enter’ PSC provided site access for some of the interested parties to take core samples to enable analysis of the sand resource. Laboratory testing identified that the sand is of high grade silica sand (white sand) that is particularly suitable for glass manufacturing. PSC engaged a consultant to undertake site investigations to identify constraints and opportunities with regard to ecology and heritage. Based on the constraints identified, PSC determined that extraction could occur within three main areas (refer Figure 1.2) above 4 m AHD. Extraction would not be permitted within an area set aside for a wildlife corridor between the two extraction areas. PSC’s Facilities and Services section provided an estimate of the amount of sand that may be contained within the identified areas on site. The extraction volumes were estimated utilising a ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT Introduction 3251_R05_Ecological Assessment _FINAL.docx 1 computer software package based on contour levels throughout the site.