MCU 14/0106 Appendix F - Ecological Assessment

State and Local Government Ecological Assessment
Noosa Civic Expansion



> the proposed pedestrian link through the covenant has been designed to minimise tree clearing and is
  elevated to enable ongoing growth of native vegetation at its edges and the movement of wildlife. Areas
  where vegetation will not persist will be lined with rocks and logs to provide cover for wildlife;
> the truck access will be constructed on a podium to minimise the footprint of construction on potential
  Wallum Froglet habitat; and
> that the proposed development incorporates stormwater management devices to ensure there are no
  downstream impacts.
Site ecology will be addressed during construction through:
> implementation of a Construction Environmental Management Plan (Cardno, 2014); and
> the sequential clearing of vegetation undertaken under the guidance of a spotter catcher.
The covenant area is a relatively narrow strip of vegetation attaining a maximum width of approximately 50m.
Such narrow patches of vegetation are prone to edge effects and as such require ongoing maintenance.
Consequently a “Covenant interface management plan” will be implemented to ensure the covenant area is
not adversely affected by:
> weed establishment;
> increase rubbish entering the area; and
> inappropriate fire regimes.
As outlined in Table 3-1, impacts to MSES may require the provision of an offset under the State’s
Environmental Offsets Policy 2014. Of the MSES identified in Table 3-1 that may require offsetting, only the
‘Protected Wildlife Habitat (including inter alia non-juvenile Koala Habitat Trees under the SPRP)’ will be
impacted by the proposed development (Figure 9). An offset will be provided in response to the
requirements of the Koala SPRP in accordance with the State’s Environmental Offsets Act 2014 that will
offset impacts on Koala and on Protected Wildlife Habitat. For the purpose of providing an offset in
accordance with the requirements of the Koala SPRP, areas mapped under the Koala SPRP as ‘non-habitat’
are not included in the total offsetable area (Figure 9). Therefore, the offset provision will be calculated
based on impact to approximately 7.2ha of regrowth/non-remnant vegetation (Figure 9).




QIC Noosa Civic Pty Ltd                                  Version 1                            5 December 2014
J13041_Ecological Assessment State Local_V1.docx   Commercial in Confidence                          Page 30