Sixty-six hectares of SEQ koala habitat could be cleared under scheme

Queensland authorities cannot stop developers clearing 66 hectares of koala habitat at Springfield because it is an "exempt development" under the suburb’s planning scheme.

That is despite the high-profile new koala protection plan put in place by the Palaszczuk government in February this year.

The public also have no opportunity to comment on the clearing of the koala habitat on 7001 Mur Boulevard and 7006 Panorama Drive at Springfield.

Dr Conny Turni questions why koala habitat is clear-felled and not planned to include wildlife corridors.Credit: Tony Moore

Now academics are questioning why these "holes" in Queensland’s new koala protection legislation exist.

"The question begs why we have koala mapping and new amendments when we just override them with exemptions," senior animal researcher Conny Turni said.

Internationally respected koala researcher Frank Carrick said the outcome was "predictable" because the Palaszczuk government's koala conservation strategy retains almost all the exemptions in previous planning regulations that allowed destruction of koala habitats.

"The strategy's development controls contain virtually all the 'get out of jail free cards' for developers to destroy high-quality koala habitat in the previous planning instruments, while removing or degrading some koala habitat protections in those instruments," Professor Carrick said.

"Elsewhere in south-east Queensland, the strategy's fundamentally flawed mapping has seen the removal of thousands of hectares of known high-quality koala habitat from its previous protection and the inclusion of a lot of poorer quality more inland areas; some with no evidence of use by koalas.

"It's a win for developers but a significant loss for koalas."

This land also is home to other vulnerable species such as the greater glider, the spotted-tailed quoll and the powerful owl.

Residents living across from the huge expanse of koala habitat last week were horrified to learn it would be cleared for 821 new homes. Some pocket parks will be created.

A 500-metre strip of forest will be kept around the residential development, according ecological studies lodged with Ipswich City Council in July 2020.

In July, the council seriously questioned the scope of the developer's ecological studies.

"The survey effort presented, suggests that large areas of the site were not traversed or surveyed," the council wrote on July 20.

In the same letter it also questioned why only two mornings were spent investigating birds and doubted the 66-hectare parcel of land was extensively studied.

Desktop studies show the habitat could contain birds including regent honeyeater (critically endangered), Coxon’s fig parrot (endangered) , the swift parrot (critically endangered) and the powerful owl, listed as vulnerable.

It also questioned the koala research after koala scats were found under four trees, yet many grey gums (koala food trees) are found on the 66-hectare site.

"Owing to the occurrence of primary koala food trees such as grey gums ... the applicant is requested to reassess the findings of the koala surveys," the council wrote.

In total, Springfield’s’s developers, Cherish Pty Ltd, plan to clear 167 hectares of koala habitat in a number of phases to build new homes.

It says "only indirect observations of koalas" were found and overall no species listed as threatened under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act were found.

Cherish Pty Ltd says the decision to clear the koala habitat is exempt from new legislation because the development application is made under Springfield’s original structure plan. They say it is has been planned for new homes for 20 years.

Dr Turni said the decision to allow large tracts of koala habitat to be clear-felled without public comment is wrong.

"It joins with other koala habitat in the Ipswich area and if you take this large block away then the other koala habitats will not be sustainable either," she said.

Dr Turni said she believed the public would have the right to have their say on the koala habitat clearing under Queensland’s new koala protection legislation (Nature Conservation Act 2020 amendments).

"But to my dismay I have found out that there are major holes in this legislation that exempt this development and allow the destruction of a massive area of koala habitat," she said.

Cherish Pty Ltd agrees the land is koala habitat, but not a priority koala area.

"The entirety of the site is mapped as koala habitat area, although located outside of a koala priority area," it said.

"As the site is located within the Springfield project area, it is exempted development for koala protection."

The council has written to Cherish Pty Ltd seeking more detailed information.

"The correspondence includes an extensive request for additional ecological studies in relation to the subject land," a council spokesman said.

The land in green represents koala habitat under the new Queensland Koala Conservation Plan. The proposed Springfield development sits in the centre green area, with critical koala habitat nearby.

"The land includes land identified as koala habitat area in relation to the state government framework for the protection of koalas, but the land was not identified as a koala priority area."

Late on Friday night Queensland's Environment Department said they would refer the application to the federal Environment Department.