Ecological Assessment of 186 – 206 Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell Prepared by AMBS Ecology & Heritage Pty Ltd for First Class Building Construction Final Report January 2017 AMBS Reference: 15225 AMBS Ecology & Heritage www.ambs.com.au [email protected] 02 9518 4489 Ecological Assessment of 186 - 206 Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell Document Information AMBS Ecology & Heritage 2016, Ecological Assessment of 186 – 206 Citation: Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell. Consultancy report to First Class Building Construction. AMBS Ref: 15225 Version 1: Draft Report issued 7 April 2016 Versions: Version 2: Final Draft issued 19 December 2016 Version 3: Final Report issued 24 January 2017 Garth Hsu, JSA Studio Recipients: Shane Youssef, First Class Building Construction Authors: Belinda Pellow, Chantelle Doyle, Mark Semeniuk, Glenn Muir Approved by: Glenn Muir AMBS Ecology & Heritage II Ecological Assessment of 186 - 206 Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell Executive Summary AMBS Ecology & Heritage Pty Ltd (AMBS) was commissioned by Taleb Property Pty Ltd to undertake an ecological assessment in relation to a proposed development at 186-206 Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell (the study area). The study area is proposed to be developed as a distribution centre and warehouse for a Tempe Tyre and Wheels centre. The project would involve the construction of warehouses, offices, car parking and truck parking, with driveways off Sir Joseph Banks Drive and Chisholm Road. The area is zoned as IN3 heavy industry under the provisions of the Sutherland Shire Local Environmental Plan 2015. The overall aim of this Ecological Assessment was to address points 4 and 5 of the Sutherland Shire Council (Council) Pre-Application advice, which indicated that the site is mapped as Environmentally Sensitive Land (Terrestrial Biodiversity), that some of the vegetation on the site has been mapped as comprising an Endangered Ecological Community (EEC), and that an Ecological Assessment (also known as a Flora and Fauna Assessment) should be submitted with the Development Application. Point 5 of Council’s Pre-Application advice indicated that the site is mapped as “Greenweb Support” and therefore landscaping of the site should be with species indigenous to the Sutherland Shire. In addition, the site is located close to the Towra Point Nature Reserve, which is a wetland of international importance. A report in relation to the above was prepared in April 2016. In December 2016, AMBS was requested to also consider the draft State Environmental Planning Policy (Coastal Management) 2016 (CM SEPP). The study involved: a desktop investigation of existing information regarding flora and fauna within the locality (in particular, threatened species, populations and ecological communities); field surveys of the study area, including diurnal flora and fauna searches, collection of flora plot data and four nocturnal surveys; preparation of assessments of significance for relevant flora and fauna. The study found that the study area and much of the surrounds have been used for heavy industrial purposes for many years. The adjacent Caltex Oil Refinery was built in the 1950’s. Previous aerial imagery indicates that the study area was highly disturbed after 1943 with most vegetation removed in the 1950’s and the treeless plain of 1943 being colonised by what appear to be trees by the 1980’s. In the 1990’s about half of the site was cleared for the construction of the AGL hydrocarbon extraction plant. In 2015 a tornado passed across the Kurnell Peninsula and as a result the vegetation of the study area has suffered disturbance. At the time of the field surveys, most standing trees were either dislodged at their roots or snapped off from the trunk. The study found that part of the study area does contain the EEC ‘Kurnell Dune Forest’, but that the area of EEC was smaller than that previously mapped and mostly confined to a small area near Chisolm Road. The study also located the threatened plant species Syzygium paniculatum on the site, as well as (possibly) Callistemon linearifolius (the Callistemon was most likely planted). The Syzygium was located in the area regarded as EEC near Chisolm Road. Eight noxious weed species were recorded during the field surveys. Overall the ground and shrub layers were dominated by weed species. The recent tornado damage had provided conditions that promoted the proliferation of weeds. In particular, Asparagus aethiopicus, AMBS Ecology & Heritage III Ecological Assessment of 186 - 206 Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell Lantana camara, Bidens pilosa and Conyza sp. were prolific with dense growth across the ground and fallen timber. Fauna habitat within the study area ranged from cleared areas in very poor condition to well- structured timbered areas; however, at the time of the survey, most of the wooded areas had been impacted by the tornado, and the canopy largely destroyed. Small patches remained intact and these areas contained shelter and resources for a variety of reasonably common native and introduced fauna. Potential hollow-bearing trees were not a common feature within the study area and only one would be likely to be impacted by the project. The study area did not contain habitat that would typically be utilised by shorebirds. The study area does contain a disused building that may provide roosting sites for microbats. There were no creeks or rivers on the site and aquatic habitats were limited to small man- made wetlands in depressions in the southern section of the study area and some broader depressions north of the old AGL site that flooded after heavy rain, some along existing tracks and some in open areas that contained varying densities of Gahnia and Phragmites. Marginal potential habitat for the Green and Golden Bell Frog (Litoria aurea) and Wallum Froglet (Crinia tinnula) occurs, but neither species was recorded during surveys within the study area. Two threatened species were recorded during the surveys, the Grey-headed Flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) and the Eastern Bentwing-bat (Miniopterus schreibersii oceanensis). The Grey-headed Flying-fox was recorded flying over the study area and sequence files from an ultrasonic call detector placed in the treed part of the site were identified as the Eastern Bentwing-bat. No microbat calls were recorded on detectors placed near the disused building. A number of recommendations to avoid or minimise impacts to flora and fauna were made. The key recommendations are, in summary: 1. the project should ensure that the areas containing the EEC and threatened plant species are protected and managed; 2. the project should minimise the construction footprint as much as possible and protect and enhance areas of retained vegetation around the footprint, including two man- made wetlands along Chisolm Road; 3. the project should revegetate existing disturbed and cleared areas outside the project boundary with appropriate native species (a list of candidate species is provided in the Appendices); 4. pre-clearance surveys for microbats in the disused building should be undertaken; and 5. all stormwater and runoff from the project should be appropriately managed and treated on-site to ensure that off-site flows do not exceed pre-development flows, that appropriate pollution reduction targets are achieved or exceeded and that appropriate measures to contain weed propagules are included. Assessments of significance for relevant threatened species, populations and ecological communities were undertaken as part of this study. The assessments found that, provided the recommendations are implemented appropriately, the project would be unlikely to have significant impacts on threatened biota. It should be noted that, in relation to the Green and Golden Bell Frog, the project would result in the removal of terrestrial habitat within 200 metres of suitable habitat in which the species has been recorded since 1995. Based on the EPBC Act policy statement 3.19 (DEWHA 2009), a referral under the EPBC Act should be considered by the proponent. In relation to the draft State Environmental Planning Policy (Coastal Management) 2016 (CM SEPP), it was noted that part of the area has been mapped as “Proximity Area for Coastal AMBS Ecology & Heritage IV Ecological Assessment of 186 - 206 Captain Cook Drive, Kurnell Wetlands”, “Coastal Environment Area” and “Coastal Use Area”. The following information is provided in relation to Clause 12 and Clause 14 (d) of the draft CM SEPP. It is not within the scope of this assessment to consider Clause 14 (a), (b), (c), (e), (f) or (g), nor is it within the scope of this assessment to consider Clause 15 of the draft CM SEPP (which deals with the Coastal Use Area). The proposed development site is currently separated from the “adjacent coastal wetland” by Captain Cook Drive. Runoff/stormwater from the site can enter the coastal wetland area via a drain under Captain Cook Drive. Thus, it is essential that the proposed development does not significantly impact on the quantity and quality of surface and groundwater flows to the adjacent coastal wetland. In relation to native vegetation and fauna and their habitats, part of the area within the development site that has been mapped as Coastal Environment Area currently contains cleared land, exotic vegetation and planted vegetation. The proposed development will remove some native vegetation, fauna and habitat; however, the vegetation in this part of the site has been damaged by the tornado and is heavily weed-infested. No hollow-bearing trees or other significant