Mount Jerrabomberra Plan of Management March 2004 Prepared by Planning for People Alistair Grinbergs Table of Contents 1. Introduction ___________________________________________________________ 3 2. Land Covered by this Plan of Management __________________________________ 6 2.1 Infrastructure and buildings _________________________________________ 7 Table 2.1 Pre-existing infrastructure on the reserve____________________________ 8 2.2 Adjacent Aboriginal land____________________________________________ 8 3. Category, Classification and ownership of Land ______________________________ 9 3.1 Classification______________________________________________________ 9 3.2 Owner of the Land _________________________________________________ 9 4. Use and Condition of the Land ___________________________________________ 10 4.1 Site Description___________________________________________________ 10 4.2 Natural Environment ______________________________________________ 10 4.3 Natural Environment Condition Assessment___________________________ 13 4.4 Cultural Environment _____________________________________________ 14 5. Use of the Land _______________________________________________________ 17 5.1 Existing uses _____________________________________________________ 17 Table 5.1 – Current recreational use of Mount Jerrabomberra _________________ 17 5.2 Community Values ________________________________________________ 18 5.3 Management Issues _______________________________________________ 18 6. Management of the Land _____________________________________________ 22 6.1 Conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecosystem function ______ 23 6.2 Maintenance of the land in its natural state____________________________ 25 6.3 Restoration and regeneration _______________________________________ 26 6.4 Community Use and Access ________________________________________ 28 6.5 Recreational Use __________________________________________________ 30 6.6 Cultural Values___________________________________________________ 32 6.7 Visual Amenity ___________________________________________________ 33 6.8 Interpretation and Education _______________________________________ 34 6.10 Community Involvement and Reserve Management ____________________ 36 6.11 Reserve Maintenance and Bushfire Control ___________________________ 37 Table 6.1 Action Priorities________________________________________________ 39 7. Future Use of the Land _________________________________________________ 48 7.1 General use ______________________________________________________ 48 7.2 Scale and intensity of use ___________________________________________ 48 7.3 Leases, licences and other estate _____________________________________ 48 7.4 Approvals for activities on the land __________________________________ 48 Mount Jerrabomberra Plan of Management March 2004 1 8. Implementation _____________________________________________________ 50 9 Bibliography _________________________________________________________ 51 Appendix One Process of Plan Preparation_________________________________ 53 Appendix Two Indicative costings ________________________________________ 56 Appendix Three Fauna Species List ________________________________________ 59 Appendix Four - Flora Species List ________________________________________ 60 Appendix Five Concept Plans ____________________________________________ 65 Mount Jerrabomberra Plan of Management March 2004 2 1. Introduction This Plan of Management for Mount Jerrabomberra represents an analysis and review of the existing body of available knowledge about Mount Jerrabomberra, community views and values about the management of the Mountain and integrates these with the legal obligations of Greater Queanbeyan City Council. Earlier proposals for the development of the urban area of Jerrabomberra and Jerrabomberra Heights included the subdivision of the area now encompassed by the Mount Jerrabomberra reserve. Greater Queanbeyan City Council responded to community concern about the scale of urban development and the potential for further development of the Mountain to significantly impact on natural, aesthetic and landscape values by restricting urban development. Following negotiations with the owner of the land – Woden Contractors – the land was gifted to the Queanbeyan community in 2002. The development of this Plan of Management is a key result of that outcome. This Plan is intended to provide a management framework for Mount Jerrabomberra for the next twenty years. As such it must seek to balance the need for specific management actions in the short to medium term with the need to provide the flexibility needed to adequately address any unforseen management challenges of the future. Following consultation with the Queanbeyan community and key stakeholdersthis plan has been adopted by Greater Queanbeyan Council. Fence to stop vehicle access into the reserve Mount Jerrabomberra Plan of Management March 2004 3 Figure 1 Location map of Mount Jerrabomberra Under the Local Government Act 1993 and the Local Government Amendment (Community Land Management) Act 1998, councils are responsible for the active management of public land and for the involvement of the community in the development of a strategy for its management. Mount Jerrabomberra was classified as community land in 2003 when it passed into Council ownership. Plans of management for community land are required to: • be written by Council in consultation with the community; • identify the important features of the land; • clarify how Council will manage the land; and • indicate how the land may be used. Mount Jerrabomberra Plan of Management March 2004 4 In managing Mount Jerrabomberra, regard must be had for the requirements of the following legislation: • Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979; • Native Vegetation Conservation Act 1997; • National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974; • Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995; • Heritage Act 1977; • Rural Fires Act 1997; • Local Government Act; • Crown Land Act; • Noxious Weeds Act; and • Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975 (now the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 2003). Mount Jerrabomberra Plan of Management March 2004 5 2. Land Covered by this Plan of Management The following land in Council ownership is covered by this Plan of Management. LOTS DEPOSITED PLAN NO. LOTS DEPOSITED PLAN NO. 104-119 17204 1658-1662 17206 142-156 17204 1664-1673 17206 177-190 17204 1678-1736 17206 1354-1369 17204 1737-1738 17206 1371-1374 17204 1752-1753 17206 1472-1495 17204 1755 17206 1518-1543 17204 1757 17206 1134-1146 17205 4 595527 1165-1170 17205 177 832788 1181-1202 17205 186 811146 1210-1243 17205 357 864750 1254-1267 17205 2 740251 1269-1270 17205 1 791259 1453-1471 17205 536 8708 1496-1517 17205 77 786344 1544-1562 17205 316 588027 1602-1657 17205 235 590742 1674-1688 17205 21 606818 1690-1697 17205 255 261045 1739-1751 17205 11 617901 1758 17205 76 786344 1086-1133 17206 166 816316 1147-1164 17206 2 746027 1171-1180 17206 167 816316 1427-1452 17206 1563-1601 17206 Mount Jerrabomberra Plan of Management March 2004 6 The extent of the site is illustrated in Figure 2 and takes in not only those areas of Mount Jerrabomberra handed over to Council by the developer, but also several adjoining reserves owned by Council. The boundary of the site is generally contiguous but it should be noted that there are several areas of privately controlled land within those boundaries. The total area covered by the Plan of Management is slightly more than 124 Hectares. The portion recently acquired by Council is made up of approximately 600 allotments and unmade roads created by a “paper subdivision” in the late 1920’s. Although these blocks theoretically exist their use is limited by zoning requirements. The plan proposes investigating the methodology and costs associated with consolidating the many individual allotments and unmade roads to form a more administratively efficient description of the land. Consisten with this, Council will endeavour to ensure that there is no further development within the bushland areas of the Mountain. The land affected by this Plan of Management is predominantly zoned Environmental Protection or Open Space. A draft Local Environmental Plan is presently on exhibition which will have the effect of changing the zoning from 7(b) to 7(a) which is more appropriate for publicly owned land. A small portion of the land is zoned 1(b) Rural B. In principle the effect of these zonings prohibits most types of residential, commercial and industrial developments, although some developments associated with recreational use are able to be considered on the land zoned Open Space. Recreation facilities, utility installations and undertakings and roads are typical of developments permitted in Environmental Protection zones. 2.1 Infrastructure and buildings The Mount Jerrabomberra reserve contains important infrastructure and services that must be considered in the context of management planning for the reserve. For the location of the infrastructure, refer to Figure 3. Mount Jerrabomberra Plan of Management March 2004 7 Table 2.1 Pre-existing infrastructure on the reserve CONDITION FUTURE USE Water Reservoirs Very Good. Some evidence of vandalism Continued access required for service and to gate and fence. maintenance purposes; need for signage prohibiting trespassing. Roads and Tracks Variable condition from very degraded to Formal roads and tracks required to provide excellent. Main access road and formal ongoing access to water reservoirs,