Winter 2017 Newsletter of the Urban Bushland Council WA Inc PO Box 326, West Perth WA 6872 Email:
[email protected] In July 2016 our whole communi- er been formalised by the state ty stood looking on in horror as a government. bulldozer removed 50 large trees and mature paperbarks in and Once a WA Planning Commis- around a much loved local wet- sion approval for subdivision land. The wetland is at the King has been issued, only the de- William St entrance to Riverside veloper has a right of appeal. Gardens, Bayswater. A peaceful Even if the developer and gov- refuge for many people, where ernment departments have the diverse native fauna in the failed to identify a wetland on wetland can be seen and heard all the site and native animals are year round. Not many people killed or injured during wet- knew that a large part of the pa- land clearing, there are no re- perbark wetland had been in pri- By Rachael Roberts percussions. The approval will vate hands since the 1920’s. of our local newspaper for al- stand. ‘No Houses in Wetlands’ formed most two months straight, as we from the outrage that followed, tried to get to the bottom of No Houses in Wetlands was resulting in the whole subdivision what was going on. Our wetland lucky enough to make contact coming to a halt. We discovered was discussed in the WA Parlia- with biologists, botanists and that the WAPC subdivision con- ment, on the steps of Parliament wetland experts who were pre- ditional approval to the private House, put on car stickers, on pared to assist us to identify developer was set in stone and posters in front gardens and dis- the environmental values of given against the recommenda- cussed on radio and television.