2020-03-10 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                         10 MARCH 2020


construction of an acoustic fence to the Noosa Drive boundary is likely to result in further tree
clearing and further compromises the ability to retain suitable koala habitat in-situ.
The loss of koala food trees from the site has the real potential to be deleterious to Noosa’s
koalas. The trees proposed to be removed also currently provide a linkage for koala movement
and consequently the proposal fails to maintain linkages for koala movement through the site. As
such, the proposal does not satisfy the requirements of the Planning Regulation or the Noosa
Plan as it does not sufficiently retain vegetation and provide for safe koala movement
opportunities.
Change to planning framework – South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy
2019 - 2024
Under the new South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy 2019-2024 mapping, the
site is mapped as Koala Habitat Area. As such, if an application was lodged today, the proponent
would be required to comply with the State Code 25: Development in South East Queensland
koala habitat areas and provide environmental offsets to the State in accordance the
Environmental Offsets Act 2014.
The applicant has advised that the preferred outcome for koalas would be to provide “offset” tree
planting elsewhere in the locality on a site to be negotiated with Council or if necessary, a
financial offset arrangement could be made in accordance with the State environmental offsets
legislation. In this instance, replanting off-site or a financial contribution to achieve an offset is not
fully supported as it is important that the physical linkage for koala movement is maintained
through the site.
The following image details the mapped Koala Habitat Area on the site and surrounding land.




                       Figure 8: Koala Habitat Area (green) effective 7 February 2020

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