Gloucester Environment Group (GEG) has expressed concern about the removal of trees from a rural residential block of land near Gloucester.
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GEG issued a press release stating the week before Easter “clear felling of important koala tree habitat” took place at the corner of Thunderbolts Way and Neotsfield Avenue.
The property where the trees were removed is a vacant block of land in the process of being sold.
Selling agent, Peter Markey said the removal of the old trees was a condition of the sale, due to the trees being infested with termites.
Prior to the council merger, neither the former Gloucester Shire Council or the Greater Taree City Council had a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) in place, whereas the Great Lakes Council had a TPO that applied to selected areas.
A TPO requires the property owner to seek permission to cut down any trees on the property, regardless of the reason. All three councils have preservation conditions within the Local Environmental Plan (LEP), which requires a review of wildlife habitat for any development application (DA). Council has advised there isn’t a DA submitted on the lot.
GEG is looking to bring awareness to the issue of council only providing protection for wildlife habitat if a DA has been submitted.
They believe council needs to do more to ensure land is properly assessed for the environmental impact to ensure only the trees that need to be removed, are.
The MidCoast Council is currently reviewing the LEPs from the former councils in order to develop a new plan to cover the region as a whole.
GEG president Jeff Kite said the group understood that during the clearing process at least one joey koala had to be rescued and that the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) was looking into the event.
“The OEH is investigating this matter and it is not appropriate to comment further,” said a spokesperson for the OEH.
Nearby resident, John Rosenbaum said his neighbour had brought a koala over in a carry bag with the intention of releasing it into the trees where koalas had been seen before.
“Visually, there was nothing wrong with it and it scurried up the tree no problem,” Mr Rosenbaum explained.
“The Gloucester Environment Group deplores the clearing of this block of all trees and not just those which might have needed to be cleared in order to build a house,” Mr Kite said.
“It is disgraceful that the beautiful tourist township of Gloucester is not protected by strong laws to prevent this type of action.
“Koalas in the area need all the protection they can get and the destruction of their habitat should only be allowed when absolutely necessary,” he said.
GEG member, Penny Drake-Brockman said the area where the clearing took place is a wildlife transit corridor between the Bucketts, down to the river and up to the Mograni.
“If too many tees are removed, the distance for the animals is too great and they won’t travel,” she said.
For koalas, it is the threat on the ground from big dogs and for small birds the distance is too far to fly, the group explained.
Mr Markey said the owner of the land contacted council via email in January about the process for removing the trees and council responded that “Council does not have a Tree Preservation Order, therefore council approval isn’t required.”
He explained that there was concern from the purchasers about the condition of the trees and the safety for their two young children.
“One tree had already fallen onto the road,” Mr Markey said.
He said the trees that have been cleared were hollow in the middle and rotted.
GEG said it believes the trees should have been inspected by an arborist before any of the trees were removed.
“They could have left a few trees on the edge of the property, where they wouldn’t be building a house,” Jeff explained.