Probe into Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon could add millions of dollars to home builds

The tiny, endangered Victorian grassland earless dragon is wreaking havoc in Melbourne’s west, with a fight to protect its habitat adding millions to the cost of new home builds — and some projects may be scrapped entirely.

More than 300,000 potential homes stretching from Sunbury to Geelong are at risk of price hikes or being scrapped altogether as protracted efforts to protect a critically endangered lizard add millions of dollars to the cost of home builds.

Families and first home buyers looking for cheaper homes in Melbourne’s west could be forced to wait an extra two years and face higher home prices if a plan to protect the Victorian grassland earless dragon is not finalised soon, property insiders have warned.

The rediscovery of the tiny lizard in June last year — which was thought to be extinct — prompted a joint investigation by the federal and state government to help conserve the species’ habitat.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon. Picture: Melbourne Zoo

But more than a year on, developers say the mounting cost of the delay – including soaring property taxes – are set to drive up home prices.

As revealed by the Herald Sun in February, huge swathes of land reaching from the Bellarine Peninsula to Melbourne’s outer north had been earmarked as potential habitat for the critter.

The massive hold up comes as the Allan government attempts to build 800,000 homes over a decade. The key housing policy has so far been an uphill battle, with the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing slumps in both building approvals and completions.

Newland Developers Victorian general manager, Mark Whinfield, whose team manages an affected site in Northern Geelong, said the company’s $1 million spend on investigating, along with expensive holding fees, would “absolutely” drive up the price of new homes.

“This has delayed the project by two years. We don’t see construction starting until 2028,” he said. “It’s a long journey.”

Picture: Supplied

In a letter to the Property Council of Australia, obtained by the Saturday Herald Sun, a spokesman for federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said a decision was now “being finalised”.

“As Victorian grassland earless dragons are now a matter of national significance ... any action that has, will have, or is likely to have a significant impact on the species must be referred to the Australian government and undergo an environmental assessment and approval process,” she said.

But Property Council Australia’s Victorian boss Cath Evans said the response, which was four months late, “failed to provide any certainty” and had left the industry “in the lurch and liable for mounting holding costs”.

She said the cost of the delays were often “running into the millions of dollars” and could be passed on to consumers.

“In the middle of a housing supply crisis, Victoria cannot afford to have tens of thousands of potential new homes caught up in green tape,” she said.

She called on both the state and federal government to support developers through “swift decision making”.

“While the industry supports the protection of vulnerable species like the Victorian grassland earless dragon, a better balance is required,” she said.

Picture: Supplied

Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) chief executive Linda Allison agreed, saying there needed to be a “greater sense of urgency” to solve the issue.

She said modelling suggested plans for a whopping 310,000 homes across the Melbourne and Geelong growth corridors could be impacted.

“We definitely would like to see a resolution,” she said.

A Victorian government spokesman said the it was continuing “conservation efforts to save the species from extinction, including the ongoing assessment of population distribution, habitat modelling and a breeding program”.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell called the rediscovery of the earless dragon “remarkable” and said it was “vital” the survival of the species is taken seriously.

“All too often in Victoria, the impact development has on native animals is not considered, with no inclusion of them in our planning laws,” she said.

“This gives us the opportunity to reconsider the severe impacts human activity is having on our environment and biodiversity, and find ways to do it better, and with balance.”

Melbourne Zoo, which hailed the dragon’s rediscovery as skin to the Tasmanian tiger, is currently running a breeding program for the lizards.

The Zoo was contacted for comment.

The reptile is not the first to hold up major development in Victoria.

In 2018, taxpayers were charged millions of dollars to protect a range of species, including the striped legless lizard, at the site of Victoria’s Cherry Creek youth prison.