Bat caves could delay Jamie Durie’s mansion build at Avalon

Garden guru Jamie Durie’s plan for his dream waterfront home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has hit another stumbling block.

Colonies of endangered micro bats in caves along the edge of Pittwater are the latest unlikely stumbling block in garden guru Jamie Durie’s plan for his dream waterfront home.

His local Northern Beaches Council has disputed the claims by the ecologist retained by the celebrity landscaper that his planned six-storey family home in exclusive Avalon will not impact on the shallow caves where the bats can roost.

Durie, the National Tree Day ambassador, has changed the $3 million design after the council was inundated with more than 30 objections to the number of native trees he proposed to tear down but the council has sent him back to the drawing board again.

Jamie Durie has had another stumbling block put up against his plan to erect a six-storey home. Picture: Supplied

He has applied to pull down the original 1960s four-bedroom cottage and replace it with a six-bedroom home with a pool, gym and media room, for his family. He has said the design is “innovative, sympathetic and responsive to the topography of the site.”

Among the council’s latest concerns is the local micro bat population which includes large eared pied bats and bentwing bats.

The environmental assessment prepared for the former Backyard Blitz star said the nearest recorded colonies of large eared pie bats and the little bentwing bats were at Careel Bay, 1.3km east of his land on Riverview Road.

The report said the small caves beneath the foreshore building line will not be impacted by his proposed home and that the caves are anyway “degraded to the point that the species is unlikely to use” them.

Jamie Durie and his partner Ameka Jane. Picture: Instagram

The council has knocked back the biodiversity report, saying the cave habitat must be retained and it is “inaccurate” to say that the cave and cliff structure on the Riverview Road waterfront block will not be impacted for “the threatened micro bats”.

Loss of habitat and the disturbance of roosting sites have been blamed for the precarious situation of 43 species of Australia’s 70 species of bats. Of those 43 threatened species, 35 are micro bats.

Durie on Sunday told The Daily Telegraph that his plans were not going to disturb the caves and he would love to see micro bats there.

“I have never seen them there but they are welcome,” he said.

Durie told The Daily Telegraph last month that the objections from local residents and local preservation groups were based on the wrong reports as his arborist’s report had mistakenly never been handed to council and uploaded to their website.

Large eared pied bat. Photo: Contributed

His initial submission was to remove 17 trees which he said he has reduced to one.

Durie said he would be putting his revised design to the council this week.

“We have met with council, the arborist and the biodiversity officer and have also met with some of our neighbours to discuss and share the new design,” he said on Sunday.

“It is of course a priority to us that we find the very best solution for the most sustainable and environmentally conscious design that works both for the environment, our local council, our neighbours, the community and of course our family.”

Durie said he has already planted more than 600 native plants on the water side of the block and planned to plant another 1518 natives.

The roof will also be used as a garden.