Yellingbo nature conservation reserve link to private land protected with covenants
Property owners are legally locking down their properties to protect bushland and wildlife, but some people worry it could increase the risk of bushfires.
Outer East
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Yarra Ranges property owners are legally locking down their properties to prevent them being trashed by future owners and to stop destruction of the Yellingbo Conservation Reserve.
More than 1400 landholders across the state — 48 of those in the Yarra Ranges — are taking out covenants on their land titles to protect native plants and wildlife.
Environmental group Trust for Nature is working with property owners who live near the reserve to secure conservation covenants to protect and link this native animal habitat, particularly the rare helmeted honeyeater and leadbeater’s possum.
However, there is wider community divide over the expansion of the reserve in the Upper Yarra, with the State Government taking away farmers’ grazing licences along the Yarra River and a Don Valley dairy farm being consumed into the reserve.
Lilydale & Yarra Valley Leader has previously reported some residents believe the expansion increases the bushfire danger in one of the most fire-prone areas in the world.
But Trust for Nature’s Ben Cullen said the covenants make a real difference as urban pressures affect bushland, critical to the survival of threatened species.
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Gaye Gadsden and David Carr put a covenant on two-thirds of their almost 9ha property.
“We share our yard with wallabies, echidnas, wombats — we saw a lace monitor the other day — there are lots of birds,” Mrs Carr said.
She said the couple moved from living in The Patch, wanting to live in country bushland rather than the city fringe.
“Putting a covenant on the land means when we leave the property, the next owner can’t trash the bush,” she said.
“When we’re not here to take care of it the covenant will.”
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But Yarra Waterways Group member and Don Valley resident Rick Houlihan said the only issue he had with expanding the reserve was making sure not to put people in danger.
“People do this with the best of intentions but don’t maintain (the property),’’ he said.
“It can create fire hazards, which when a fire starts it usually runs into surrounding properties.”