Peter Parker Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd 250 Broken Head Road, Broken Head, NSW 2481 0266 853 148 ACN 076 885 704 0419984954 [email protected] _________________________________________________________________ 18 November 2016 General Manager Byron Shire Council PO Box 219 MULLUMBIMBY NSW 2481 Rezoning of land at Tallowood Ridge, Mullumbimby Byron Shire Council provided the Applicant with an update on the planning proposal for rezoning of land at Tallowood Ridge on 27 September 2016. In this update, Council referred to a submission from the Office of Environment and Heritage (“OEH”) and requested that the Applicant provide an updated ecological, flora and fauna assessment. Council requested that the revised assessment is to include: Assessment of the whole of the land which is the subject of the planning proposal, particularly the forested areas Consideration of the potential impacts of the proposed rezoning and future development of approximately 65 additional residential lots with associated earthworks and infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, electricity) on the proposed R2 zoned land Consideration of the provisions of the draft ‘Byron Coast Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management’ and 1 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Additional field survey and/or verification as required to ensure that the report adequately addresses threatened species, populations and ecological communities listed on the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 since 2011. The site is arguably one of the most intensively surveyed sites in Byron Shire. A systematic flora and fauna survey was undertaken in 2011 and regular koala Spot Assessment Technique (“SAT”) surveys have been periodically undertaken since 2011. Survey results are discussed below. 1.0 Background A systematic flora and fauna survey was undertaken in 2011 by this consultancy. This survey included the whole of the land and was not restricted to small portions subject to specific development applications. However, greater survey effort was applied to forested portions of the site than to open grassland which was grazed by stock at that time. The survey methods applied are illustrated in Fig. 1 at page 3 and in Table 1). Table 1: Survey methods (Parker 2011) Survey method Survey effort Bat acoustical sampling 9 detector nights (records on digital flash cards) Bird play-back calls 40 minutes per night over 3 evenings/nights Bird transects 40 minutes morning and evening, 3 days and nights Cage traps 15 trap-nights Elliott “A” traps 75 trap-nights Frog call detection Day and night, approximately 8 hours Hair-tube traps 240 trap-nights Harp net 2 nets on one night (2 net-nights) Litter searches 2 hours Scat analysis Opportunistic throughout site SAT koala survey Targeted searches for koala scats (300 trees) Spotlighting 3 nights for approximately 2 hours per night Threatened fauna recorded in the 2011 survey include one vulnerable bird, the masked owl, Tyto novaehollandiae, four vulnerable mammals, the eastern false pipistrelle, Falsistrellus tasmaniensis, the little bent-wing bat, Miniopterus australis, the grey-headed flying-fox, Pteropus poliocephalus, and the koala, Phascolarctos cinereus (from scats). 2 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Fig. 1: Survey methods April 2011 3 |Peter Parker consultancy advice 1.1 Koala surveys A systematic koala survey was undertaken on 11 and 12 April 2011 utilising the SAT described by Phillips and Callaghan (2011) Fig. 1. A grid, spaced at approximately 100 m centres, was laid out over an aerial photo of the entire site prior to the survey commencement. The tree nearest the grid intersection was located using a GPS and was tagged to facilitate the counting of scats under this tree and the next nearest 29 trees. These were surveyed for the presence of scats in accordance with the SAT methodology. A total of ten SAT sites were used in 2011 making a total of 300 trees surveyed. A single koala scat was recorded in the 2011 survey. This activity fell below the lowest category reported in Phillips and Callaghan (2011) and thus the koala was a transitory species which may move through the site opportunistically. A subsequent SAT survey undertaken in 2012 resulted in koala scats being recorded under 21 tallowwood trees, Eucalyptus microcorys, out of the 180 trees surveyed (Parker 2012). These data demonstrated that koala(s) had recently visited the site and that tallowwood was the koala’s preferred food tree. The assessment of koala activity levels (“ALs”) in accordance with Phillips and Callaghan (2011) was undertaken. A further koala SAT survey was undertaken on 3 October 2013. Six sites were selected and 180 trees surveyed with koala scats being recorded under only one tree. This suggests that the previous results, which showed that the koala is transitory, were the most likely scenario and accords with the lack of koala observations during previous SAT surveys or spotlighting. A 2016 SAT survey (Parker 2016) was conducted in the vicinity of the Stage 5 subdivision in an area which supported tallowwood (Fig. 2). Koala scats were recorded under three trees within two of the SAT sites. These records are interpreted as Activity Levels of 6.6% and 3.3% respectively (Fig. 2). 4 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Scat activity levels of koala populations is defined by Phillips and Callaghan (2011) as follows: Low: SAT site activity level less than 22.52%; Medium to High: SAT levels greater than or equal to 22.52% but less than or equal to 32.84%; and High: SAT levels greater than 32.84%. Results from the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016 SAT surveys all demonstrate that the koala occurs at the Tallowood ridge site periodically and its occurrence is within a low activity level. 1.2 Tree surveys Tree surveys were undertaken in September and October 2013 i.e., 30 person-days using three teams of two people, with each team comprised of a team leader and a team marker. The survey was conducted within the pre-defined vegetation polygons illustrated in Fig. 3 (Plates 1-8). Trees in the “upper or lower strata of the tree component” were counted according to Step 1, section 1.5 of Circular B25 and the requirements of SEPP 44 for potential koala habitat. Only native trees were recorded with shrubs and ground covers being ignored as these do not occur within the “tree component”. A total of 9,767 trees was counted with tallowwood accounting for 272 trees or 2.8% of the total number of trees in either the upper or lower strata of the tree component. Data with respect to tree species, counts and tree size (as diameter at breast height “DBH”) are presented in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. Small rainforest species dominated the site with over 7,000 trees being under 50 mm DBH. However, 18 tallowwoods had a DBH greater than 500 mm and 17 trees measured between 400-500 mm, thus contributing significantly to tree biomass and crown cover (Fig. 4). 5 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Fig. 2: 2016 SAT survey and koala activity levels 6 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Fig. 3: Survey sites for tree counts and plots of tallowwood (Photo: Bill Mills November 2013) 7 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Fig. 4: Tallowwood - Counts and sizes measured as DBH within the polygons illustrated in Fig. 3 Fig. 5: Counts and tree size measured as DBH for dominant tree species at Tallowood Ridge Estate 8 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Fig. 6: Brushbox - counts and sizes measured as DBH within the polygons illustrated in Fig. 3 The most conspicuous tree species located along the site’s southern boundary (polygons 1, 4 and 5) was brushbox, Lophostemon confertus (Fig. 6), with 37 trees having a DBH greater than 500 mm and a significant canopy spread. This was almost three times the number of tallowwood (n=13) in the same size class (Fig. 4). Table 2 lists the counts of trees by species in the “upper or lower strata of the tree component” as required by SEPP 44 in polygons 1, 2, 4 and 5. Tallowwood comprised of 204 trees which is 2.37% of the “upper or lower strata of the tree component”. This is well short of the 15% required to meet the SEPP 44 criteria of potential koala habitat. Circular B35 advises that “no further provisions of the policy apply to the DA” should a development application be under consideration by Council. 9 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Table 2: Tree counts and the total number of tallowwood (N= 204; 2.37% of total) in polygons 1, 2, 4 and 5 Polygon 1 745 Bloodwood 11 Brushbox 219 Rainforest sp. 432 Red Mahogany 1 Tallowwood 82 Polygon 2 1249 Bloodwood 52 Brushbox 208 Forest Oak 7 Grey Iron Bark 11 Other (e.g., wattle) 12 Rainforest 830 Red Mahogany 60 Tallowwood 69 Polygon 4 3444 Bloodwood 54 Brushbox 311 Forest Oak 21 Grey Iron Bark 27 Other 93 Rainforest 2703 Red Mahogany 188 Tallowwood 47 Polygon 5 3134 Bloodwood 16 Brushbox 307 Forest Oak 34 Grey Iron Bark 31 Other 30 Rainforest 2680 Red Mahogany 30 Tallowwood 6 Grand Total 8572 A total of 571 canopy trees were recorded and 76 of these were tallowwood. Canopy trees were defined as those trees over 20 m in height (Table 3). Based on this criteria, tallowwood comprised of 13.3%. 10 |Peter Parker consultancy advice Table 3: Counts of trees by species and height (canopy species) in polygons 1, 2, 4 and 5 Grand Height (m) 20 22 25 28 30 35 Total Bloodwood 16 6 2 24 Brushbox 167 1 67 1 36 4 276 Forest Oak 11 10 2 23 Grey Iron Bark 10 1 9 12 32 Other (e.g, wattle) 1 1 2 Rainforest species 8 6 1 15 Red Mahogany 70 43 9 1 123 Tallowwood 20 25 1 27 3 76 Grand Total 303 2 167 2 89 8 571 2.0 Council’s requirements Council’s first requirement is: Assessment of the whole of the land which is the subject of the planning proposal, particularly the forested areas 2.1 Response The material provided above in the background to this submission clearly demonstrates that the whole of the tallowwood site has been addressed in a number of flora and fauna surveys over the past five years and that more intensive survey effort has been applied in forested areas.