The Urban Bush Telegraph September 2017
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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. the site. The City of Bayswater tion of the City of Bayswater. The We were very clear that further also stood by us from the be- City of Bayswater refusal was destruction to Carter’s Wetland ginning. supported by advice from depart- did not have community sup- There are a number of ways in mental staff in the Rivers and port. which the Carter Wetland can Estuaries Division of the Depart- Our Bayswater community has be saved but we are not there ment of Parks and Wildlife. learnt the hard way that the vast yet. No Houses in Wetlands is The WAPC approval was for a majority of our wetlands have not going to stop this cam- large housing subdivision and no protection under WA’s plan- paign until this wetland is fully destruction of a wetland, less than ning laws. in public hands and our state Bush Telegraph planning laws become urban 50 meters away from Eric Single- ton Bird Sanctuary, where the wetland friendly. state government had recently We discovered that: In the meantime, we have invested $1.5 million dollars on • a private developer can put asked the City of Bayswater to wetland restoration. The irony in an application for a housing map every piece of remnant was extraordinary. subdivision adjacent to or in a wetland and bushland in our The City of Bayswater had good wetland and their application area, determine who owns it reasons for refusing the subdivi- will attract no environmental and what needs to be done to sion. The two wetlands involved scrutiny. prevent its destruction. This is were incorrectly classified by the being done. We would encour- Department of Water. Neither • the Department of Water and Department of Parks and age everyone to have their classification recognised the envi- Council do the same, and put ronmental value of the wetlands Wildlife do not have the re- sources to assess a wetland be- in place a plan to save your in the vicinity of the subdivision. important sites, before it is too No environmental assessment of fore destruction is approved. late. Urban the wetlands or surrounds was • no attempt will be made to ever sought by the WAPC, either identify the native species in a Inside this issue: from the Developer or relevant wetland or protect those species state government departments. from being killed, as part of a More groundwater decline from 3 Within weeks of the campaign development application. Groundwater Replenishment? commencing, Members of Parlia- ment started appearing to have a • the wetland buffer guide- UBC priority actions for BF sites 4 look at the site for themselves. lines for all wetlands in WA, drafted by the WA Planning Our campaign had the front cover What’s new 5 The Commission in 2005, have nev- CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2017 RECEIVERS Editorial OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA MEDAL The UBC formed with the overall goal of seeking statu- On Friday 8th September, two tory protection for urban bushland in WA in the after- locally well known environ- math of the concerted but non-violent community action mental volunteers were pre- campaign to stop bulldozing of the Hepburn Heights sented medals by Her Excellen- bushland. (See page 9) cy the Honourable Kerry Sand- Here we are now 24 years later with a litany of cam- erson AC, Governor of WA. paigns still running. On the positive side, the election of the new state Labor government this year has seen deliv- Kim Sarti OAM was awarded ery of their commitment to stop the construction of Roe the Medal of the OA in the General Division for service to 8 through the Beeliar Wetlands, to halt destruction of the Bayswater wetlands, and to stop the proposal to build conservation and the environment. roads through two Bush Forever reserves in coastal Penny Hussey AM was appointed as Member in the General dunes at Scarborough. Division of the OA for significant service to conservation and land management practices in WA through a range of What is remarkable is that the proposals for these three government and volunteer roles. sites involved government agencies: Main Roads, the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, and indirectly the City of Bayswater. It is also remarkable that it took highly active and skilled community campaigns to gain government commitment and action to stop these proposals, rather than the proper environmental assessment by government. Indeed, the Barnett government has left a legacy of unfinished busi- ness and failure in government decision making accord- ing to existing Bush Forever policy, Statements of Plan- ning Policy (SPP’s), the native vegetation clearing regu- lations, and EPA policies. Failure to base decisions on scientific facts and protection of threatened species and Kim Sarti OAM with his daughter Robyn (left) and Ron Johnston communities is unacceptable. This has stimulated a call (Curator, Ornitilogy, WA Museum) and Christine Johnston at the by The Leeuwin Group for an Environment Court to be Order of Australia investiture ceremony at Government House. established in WA. Photos courtesy K. Sarti AVAILABLE UBC PUBLICATIONS In meetings with new Ministers, their advisors and de- partmental heads, we have strongly recommended that Perth’s Bush Forever Report Card Bush Forever be completed as planned and according to Proceedings of a conference (December 2012) http://www.bushlandperth.org.au/resources/publications our ‘Call for Action on Bush Forever October 2015’. We have given them a list of priority site issues for ac- Perth’s Banksia Woodlands - Precious and Under Threat tion (see page 4). There is much to be done. Proceedings of a symposium (2011) Available from the UBC for $20 plus $3 postage. The UBC understands there is ample funding available in Endangered Black Cockatoos in Western Australia the Metropolitan Region Improvement Trust Fund Proceedings of a symposium. (MRIF) to complete acquisition of all Bush Forever sites http://www.bushlandperth.org.au/resources/publications and to complete initial capital works and weed control to Burning Issues - proceedings of a workshop about fire management establish them as conservation areas and for public ap- in urban bushland. (2002) Available from the UBC free. preciation. The WAPC is responsible for expenditure of Building Partnerships between Community Groups and Local the MRIF and it is pleasing to see that sites such as Har- Government for Our Bushland - proceedings of a seminar (2000) risdale Swamp are being set up properly as conservation Available from the UBC free. areas. We also expect road reserves and proposed pipe- lines to be removed from sites such as Beeliar wetlands, PERTH’S BUSHLAND BIRTHDAY & PERPETUAL CALENDAR Holmes Street bushland, Anstey-Keane bushland and Available by mail order from the UBC office for $10 plus $2 postage Lake Joondalup reserve and other Bush Forever sites. N E W S L E T T E R I T E M S Compiled by: Renata Zelinova Will the Labor government act to properly protect and PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO: [email protected] manage our precious urban bushland? Copy deadline - 10 October 2017 Page 2 THE URBAN BUSH TELEGRAPH More groundwater decline from Groundwater Replenishment? Groundwater decline is a major threat to the health of our It is extraordinary that, as described in the West Australi- Banksia Woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain. This is an article, the Water Corporation will be allowed an ex- recognised in the federal listing of Banksia woodlands as tra allocation of 14 billion litres this year, as soon as re- a TEC. plenishment starts. While the article admits that ground- water levels have been ‘hammered over the last 15 – 20 Groundwater levels have been falling steadily for many years’, the claim is that the Water Corporation will ‘give years largely due to the greatly increased and uncon- back to the environment’. This may be true if overall trolled abstraction for irrigated agriculture, turf farms, abstraction rates are decreased, but certainly not if they golf courses, lawns and other industries.