Yan Yean Pipe Track Reserve walking, cycling plans opposed over threat to kangaroos

Whittlesea wildlife rescuers say carving up a conservation area will cause more dog attacks and road carnage on the local roo population.

Whittlesea wildlife rescuers are bracing themselves for an increase in dog attacks and road carnage as authorities clear the way for new walking tracks in a conservation area.

Mernda-based non-profit ‘Rescue Rehabilitate Release’ has urged the City of Whittlesea to reconsider a plan to open the Yan Yean Pipe Track Reserve, including parts of the Plenty Valley Conservation Reserve, to the public, warning it would spell the end for a mob of kangaroos which has called the vacant land home for the best part of a decade.

Wildlife rescue volunteer Krysti Severi said she had raised concerns with the council but could not get a straight answer as to how it would ensure the “peaceful” animals did not suffer as a result of changes to their habitat.

Whittlesea wildlife rescue volunteer Krysti Severi has spoken out against council plans to create walking tracks in a Mill Park conservation area home to a family of kangaroos. Picture: Supplied

Ms Severi said her suggestion to create a walking track along the perimeter of the conservation area, rather than through it, had been ignored.

She said the area — between McDonalds Rd and Bush Blvd in Mill Park — was “the only small space these roos have left” and “needs to be kept off limits to the public”.

Ms Severi fears more incidents like this one if the council develops ‘the only small space these roos have left’. Picture: Supplied

“Rescuers are already under a huge amount of pressure dealing with the incompetence of council and developers not making provisions for wildlife,” Ms Severi said.

“This has to be stopped.”

The City of Whittlesea’s Yan Yean Pipe Track project proposes to build a missing section of the trail between the Darebin Creek trail and McDonalds Rd to “support more active travel in and around the municipality and support cycle tourism”.

The first stage — between Darebin Creek Trail (near McKimmies Rd) and Childs Rd — is set to start in the 2022-23 financial year, and future stages will be built progressively going north from Childs Rd.

Whittlesea chief executive Craig Lloyd said last week there were no plans for trail work in the Plenty Valley Conservation Reserve until “at least the 2026-27 financial year, subject to funding”.

Mr Lloyd said dogs would be permitted on-leash only, “as with all walking and cycling paths”.

In response to Ms Severi’s concerns, he said the council was ”committed to minimising impact on local wildlife during any work on these areas”.

“We ensure any construction project has a comprehensive site management plan, which includes a wildlife management plan to address any impacts on wildlife in project areas,” Mr Lloyd said.

 He did not respond to the question of whether there were plans to relocate or cull the kangaroos.