APPIN GROWTH SUBMISSION GUIDE
Submissions are open for two proposals for development on the fringes of South-West Sydney that will devastate koala habitat, the fast tracking and rezoning of Appin village to create 12,000 new homes and Gilead Stage 2 to create 3,300 new homes.
SUBMISSION GUIDE - APPIN VILLAGE
BY SAVE SYDNEY'S KOALAS
Appin Precinct (Developer: Walker Corporation): 1,284-hectare site for over 12,000 homes.
I strongly object to the fast tracking and rezoning of Appin Village and surrounding areas for more than 12,000 homes. This development will destroy part of the critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland and negatively impact Koalas and other threatened species, as well as endangering the water running into the Nepean and Georges Rivers and drinking water catchments.
The planning principle for the Greater Macarthur Growth Area is the conservation of biodiversity for koala population yet this planning proposal fails to adequately conserve biodiversity and the Planning Minister cannot be confident the Endangered Species like Koala will survive long term.
This planning proposal is underpinned by the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan (CPCP) currently being assessed by the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
The Chief Scientist identified one Koala Corridor across Wilton Road south of Appin Village and Ousedale Creek within the Village. The Chief Scientist was also concerned about whether the CPCP’s preferred east-west koala habitat corridor - Ousedale Creek - could be properly set aside as a workable koala habitat corridor, noting that its function is dependent on land purchases and restoration that will take an indefinite time to deliver.
The Nepean and Georges River are both Primary Corridors but no 425m minimum wide corridors have been included in this planning proposal. The majority of advice given to DPE by the NSW Chief Scientist has not been adequately incorporated in the CPCP.
The CPCP Assessment Report acknowledges that only approximately 13 percent of the pre-1970 extent of native vegetation in the Cumberland Plain subregion remains intact, with an additional 12 percent occurring as heavily degraded communities (e.g. scattered trees) in disturbed areas.
The CPCP will impact 1,753.6 hectares of threatened ecological communities including Cumberland Plain Woodland, Shale Sandstone Transition Forest and River-Flat Eucalypt Forest.
Alarmingly, the CPCP also notes that "biodiversity loss significantly increases once habitat fragmentation by clearing exceeds 70 per cent of the landscape." This threshold has already been passed and will accelerate if the CPCP is implemented in its current form.
The importance of the Aboriginal heritage has been identified by the listing of the Massacre Site on the NSW State Heritage Register but will the NSW State Government protect the site from development?
In their petition, No development at Appin Massacre Area, the Dharawal and Gundungurra family groups are calling on the NSW Government to protect the Appin massacre site from future development. “This area should never be built on. It’s a place of trauma, great sorrow and death.
Development on this land will yet again trigger that trauma for our communities.”
Appin and North Appin are now being considered as Priority Precincts, according to Minister Roberts ( Daily Telegraph Dec 5th) which means the CPCP has grossly underestimated the amount of dwellings and the accompanying impacts on Endangered and Threatened Species including the Koala.
SUBMISSION GUIDE - GILEAD STAGE 2
BY SAVE SYDNEY'S KOALAS
Gilead Stage 2 (Developer: Lendlease): 876-hectare site for up to 3,300 homes.
This proposal fails to apply the planning principle for the Greater Macarthur Growth Area namely , the conservation of biodiversity for the koala population.
The planning proposal fails to show dimensions for the Koala corridors listed, scientific advice recommends corridors be at least a minimum of 390-450 metres wide.
Without being able to see these dimensions the credibility and transparency of this process is undermined.
Zoning of Koala corridors (and buffers) as C2 rather than C1 allows for other uses that are not compatible with Koala conservation.
This concern was also brought up by the Technical Assurance Panel (TAP) for example, the proposed Riverside Reserve “is located within the Nepean Koala Corridor, it cannot support uses such as access roads, built structures, barbeques, lighting, dog walking, playgrounds, etc. The types of uses permissible in all koala corridors is consistent throughout the Greater Macarthur Growth Area.”
Koala corridors should be zoned C1 and the ownership and management of these corridors should not remain in the hands of the developers.
The Urbis document prepared for Lendlease shows “Indicative Stormwater Basin Location Stormwater in wildlife corridors” (Urban Design Report 2022:27). This is contrary to the advice of the Chief Scientist and the TAP. In the same document Urbis have located a “proposed Figtree Hill Reservoir” in the biobank area adjacent to Brown’s Bush which has also been identified as a future Koala Reserve.
Even more worrying, Lendlease has an “Indicative Sewer Pumping Station” located at the north-west corner of the Site.
The proposed infrastructure will sever both Koala Corridors A and B ( identified by the Chief Scientist), demonstrating Lendlease’s insincerity to protect Koala Corridors.
The Koala is listed as a Threatened Species in Ecological documents not reflecting the Endangered Listing both in NSW and Federally, this oversight undermines credibility of the planning proposal.
The planning proposal fails to recognise and protect the rich biodiversity of Stage 2, according to one of the Ecological reports Stage 2 is home to 287 Threatened Species of flora, 124 native vertebrates, 8 species of birds, 11 native mammals and the Cumberland Plain Land Snail and fails to protect their ecosystems.
Gilead is now being considered a Priority Precinct according to Minister Roberts ( Daily Telegraph Dec 5th) which means the Biodiversity Certification application by Lendlease will have significantly underestimated the amount of dwellings and accompanying impacts on Endangered and Threatened Species including the Koala.