Ecological Assessment

State and Local Government Ecological Assessment
Noosa Civic Expansion



will not persist. An additional area of clearing will occur within the southern edge of Covenant J to allow for
development of the southern road (~0.02ha of clearing for road batters).
Indirect impacts may result from:
> locating development proximate to the edge of retained vegetation, thereby necessitating the clearing of
  additional vegetation; and
> from changes in hydrology that increase or decrease flows or affect the quality of stormwater runoff.
The proposed development has been designed to ensure there are no changes to hydrology that would
adversely affect downstream flora or fauna reliant on stormwater flows. The proposed development has also
been designed to protect all vegetation within the covenant area, with the exception of the proposed
pedestrian link and southern road batter. Surveyed trees have been avoided as much as practicable at the
pedestrian link and the crossing structure will be elevated to allow for the movement of local wildlife.
It is also important to note that not all impacts are negative. The proposed development represents an
opportunity to improve connectivity between the covenant and vegetation to the south by replacing a low
lying flooded culvert with a structure that will allow for greater movement of wildlife between the areas.

5.3                Mitigation Measures
Despite the minimal impact of the proposed development, mitigation measures have been built into the
design and others will be implemented during its construction and operation. In terms of development design
it is noted:
> all trees along the covenant interface have been surveyed to ensure they have been considered within
  project design;
> where practicable, trees and other native regrowth vegetation will be retained in bands within the outer
  areas of the proposed car park. The retention of these bands of regrowth vegetation between paved
  surfaces and other construction has been successfully achieved within Noosa Civic as illustrated in Plate
  10 below. It is anticipated that most mature regrowth within the retained bands will survive despite
  exposure to created edges. While there is the potential for the health of some retained mature regrowth
  to diminish, this will provide opportunities for existing smaller trees to fill resulting gaps. Where there are
  lower densities of existing younger vegetation this insufficiency will be augmented through supplementary
  planting;




    Plate 10: Extract from Google Street View (viewed 27-11-2014) illustrating trees retained between Walter Hay Drive and Noosa
    Civic.

> the existing culvert crossing at the southern extent of the covenant will be upgraded to integrate wildlife
  connectivity thereunder;
QIC Noosa Civic Pty Ltd                                    Version 1                                               5 December 2014
J13041_Ecological Assessment State Local_V1.docx     Commercial in Confidence                                             Page 29