Transmission lines to be built on top of ‘significant’ koala habitat: report

Massive transmission lines transporting energy from wind and solar farms will be built on the top of significant koala habitat, two separate reports have found.

Massive transmission lines transporting energy from wind and solar farms in the state’s north will be built on the habitat of one of the state’s most significant koala populations, two separate reports have found.

This comes as angry landholders, facing kilometres of transmission lines placed across their properties, bring their fight to the NSW government. Landholders claim that not only will the proposed route drastically reduce the value of their properties and businesses, they will also dissipate local koala populations.

Transmission lines will be built on top of one of the state’s most significant koala populations two separate reports have found. Picture: Christine Schindler

Multiple surveys of a section of the proposed route found up to 29 koalas across two properties. Credit: Zoos Victoria

Drone surveys, audio tests and heat maps of bushland conducted across two properties near a northwest town of Tamworth found up to nearly 30 koalas where a 140 metre wide corridor would be cleared to make way for the 75 metre tall transmission line pylons transporting energy from the New England renewable energy zone (REZ) to Greater Sydney.

One report from Stringybark Ecological, commissioned by local landholders group Valley Alliance, found the koala populations across the two sites indicated “a koala population of regional significance”.

The report warned that koalas within that location, known as the Woolomin Gap were “critically important to the survival of this declining species”. The report detailed that land clearing due to transmission projects would result in a direct loss of habitat and a potential risk to increase the spread of chlamydia due to habitat stress.

The report found that the areas surveyed that are earmarked for the transmission route contain very high quality habitat with many types of eucalyptus trees used by koalas

Vegetation must be cleared along a final 70 to 140 metre-wide easement to install the transmission infrastructure. Picture by Max Mason-Hubers

A second report conducted by the Wildseek project with Landcare Australia, Queensland University of Technology and WIRES found there were 29 koala detections over the two properties, with the potential for six to be duplicated, which indicated a “much higher density than the regional average”. The Wildseek report also points out that many more koalas in the area may have been missed due the time of day the heat maps were taken.

In response to the findings of the two reports the NSW government has said ecologists will rehome any koalas in the path of the transmission lines before and during construction.

Yet koala ecologist Phil Spark, who has been monitoring koala populations in the Tamworth area since 2015, said rehoming causes unnecessary stress on koalas.

“It is a very significant population because it is a breeding population and it appears they are expanding,” he said.

“Rehoming is not usually a good idea because all the good habitat is occupied – you can’t let some koalas in other koala habitats as it causes stress and disputes.”

Energy and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe. Picture: Supplied.

Energy and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said the government was already undertaking biodiversity assessments to look at koala populations along the route.

“Environmental assessments are being undertaken on the one-kilometre-wide assessment route, which will be narrowed down to 250 metres in the environmental impact statement, and final easement of 70 to 140 metres, avoiding as much habitat as possible,” she said.

“This preferred corridor has been selected because it minimises impacts across a variety of factors, including impact on environment and private land holders.”

State-owned EnergyCo which is responsible for the renewable energy rollout only used existing databases of koala habitat before drawing the transmission route.

Valley Alliance chair Tim White on his property just outside of Tamworth. Photo: Tom Parrish

Local sheep farmer Tim White, who is part of Valley Alliance said rehoming the koalas was not good enough.

“We’ve known for years we’ve got a lot of koalas – the bush is old forest and they’ve chosen that area to go right over the top of it with their transmission lines,” he said.

Opposition environment spokesman James Griffin said the government was sending mixed messages around koala conservation.

“Clearly the NSW Labor Government are engaged in a Koala war with themselves,” he said.

“The NSW Labor Government must urgently outline how they will manage the need for affordable and reliable energy and prevent the decimation of important Koala populations.”