Mulgoa Road Upgrade Biodiversity Assessment May 2018
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Mulgoa Road Upgrade Biodiversity Assessment May 2018 BLANK PAGE Mulgoa Road Upgrade 2 Biodiversity Assessment Roads and Maritime Services Mulgoa Road Upgrade Biodiversity Assessment May 2018 Prepared by EPS Mulgoa Road Upgrade 3 Biodiversity Assessment Approval and authorisation Title Mulgoa Road Upgrade Accepted on behalf of NSW Roads and Maritime Services by: Signed: Dated: Document Control Project: Mulgoa Road Biodiversity Assessment Report Client ARUP on behalf of Roads and Maritime Services Rev No Date Our Reference Author Reviewer V01 24 April 2018 20180424_Mulgoa Road Stage_1 D Landenberger T. Lambert Biodiversity Assessment_Draft_V01 V02 14 May 2018 20180514_Mulgoa Road Stage_1 D Landenberger T. Lambert Biodiversity Assessment_Draft_V02 Checked By 14 May 2018 A. Midgley Approved 14 May 2018 T. Lambert By Environmental Property Services Hunter Sydney 9 Yacaaba Street Level 33, 264 George Street Nelson Bay NSW 2315 Sydney NSW 2000 (02) 49811600 (02) 92581985 Website www.enviroproperty.com.au Mulgoa Road Upgrade 4 Biodiversity Assessment Executive summary Roads and Maritime Services (Roads and Maritime) proposes to upgrade Mulgoa Road from Jeanette Street, Regentville (south of the interchange with the M4 Motorway) to the north of Blaikie Road, Jamisontown. The majority of the study area consists of urban environments and disturbed exotic and native vegetation. The biodiversity values recorded within the study area consist of the following: • Four vegetation assemblages: • PCT 835 Forest Red Gum - Rough-barked Apple grassy woodland on alluvial flats of the Cumberland Plain, Sydney Basin Bioregion • Planted Casuarina glauca trees • Planted Street Trees • Exotic Vegetation • One disturbed example of a threatened ecological community: • River-flat Eucalypt Forest on Coastal Floodplains listed as endangered on the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) • One species of threatened fauna was recorded, being the Grey-headed Flying Fox listed as vulnerable on the BC Act and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) • Habitat was present for six threatened microbats, all listed as vulnerable under the BC Act • No threatened flora species were recorded • A total of 45 hollow-bearing trees with 239 hollows were recorded within and adjoining the study area • Three species of fauna, being the Little Corella, Rainbow Lorikeet and Galah were recorded nesting in the hollow-bearing trees. The proposal will have the following impacts upon biodiversity values within the study area: • A maximum of 0.81 ha of disturbed Forest Red Gum - Rough-barked Apple grassy woodland will be impacted. This PCT is commensurate with a disturbed form of the TEC River-flat Eucalypt Forest on Coastal Floodplains listed on the BC Act • A maximum of 1.33 ha of Planted Casuarina glauca trees will be removed • A maximum of 1.24 ha of Planted Street Trees will be removed • A maximum of 0.13 ha of exotic vegetation will be removed • Removal of a maximum of 41 hollow-bearing trees. Significance impact assessments for the six threatened fauna species and one threatened ecological community concluded that no significant impacts were considered likely to occur as a result of the proposal. Therefore, a Species Impact Statement (SIS) and further assessment under the EPBC Act are not required. Biodiversity offsets are unlikely to be required as the proposal does not meet the criteria for consideration of biodiversity offsets as outlined in the Roads and Maritime Biodiversity Offset Guidelines. However supplementary measures via preparation and implementation of a Nest Box Strategy will address the loss of hollow-bearing trees resulting from the proposal. Key mitigation measures to minimise the impact to biodiversity include the following: • Preparation of Arborist Tree Assessment with a key focus on safe retention of existing mature trees, including preparation of a Tree Protection Plan • Construction Environmental Management Plan is prepared (CEMP) • Nest Box Strategy • Pre-clearing surveys Mulgoa Road Upgrade 5 Biodiversity Assessment • Minimisation of the removal of vegetation • Vegetation clearing procedures • Minimisation of the removal of hollow-bearing trees • If practical, removal of hollow-bearing trees to be undertaken outside of May-September which is the main breeding season for hollow dependent fauna • Provide appropriate sediment and erosion controls • Revegetate with native species post-construction. Mulgoa Road Upgrade 6 Biodiversity Assessment Contents Executive summary ...................................................................................................................... 5 Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 7 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 11 1.1 Proposal background ...................................................................................................... 11 1.2 The proposal ................................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Legislative context .......................................................................................................... 12 1.4 Aims and Objectives of this Report ................................................................................. 16 2 Methods ................................................................................................................................. 17 2.1 Personnel ....................................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Definitions ....................................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Background research ...................................................................................................... 17 2.4 Habitat assessment ........................................................................................................ 19 2.5 Field survey .................................................................................................................... 19 2.6 Aquatic Surveys .............................................................................................................. 21 2.7 Limitations ...................................................................................................................... 21 3 Existing environment ............................................................................................................ 23 3.1 Regional Vegetation Mapping ......................................................................................... 23 3.2 Plant community types .................................................................................................... 24 3.3 Fauna Survey Results..................................................................................................... 32 3.4 Threatened ecological communities ................................................................................ 36 3.5 Threatened species and populations .............................................................................. 37 3.6 Aquatic results ................................................................................................................ 39 3.7 Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems ............................................................................. 39 3.8 Coastal Management SEPP ........................................................................................... 39 3.9 Matters of National Environmental Significance .............................................................. 39 4 Impact assessment ............................................................................................................... 41 4.1 Construction Impacts ...................................................................................................... 41 4.2 Operational Impacts ........................................................................................................ 44 4.3 Assessments of significance ........................................................................................... 44 5 Avoid, minimise and mitigate impacts ................................................................................. 46 5.1 Avoidance and minimisation ........................................................................................... 46 5.2 Mitigation measures ........................................................................................................ 46 6 Biodiversity Offsets .............................................................................................................. 50 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 51 8 References ............................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix A – Database Searches.............................................................................................. 55 Appendix B – Species recorded ................................................................................................ 56 Mulgoa Road Upgrade 7 Biodiversity Assessment Appendix C – Habitat assessment table .................................................................................... 62