2024-02-29
Tamara Smith MP Member for Ballina has today urged the NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully to refer the “Wallum” development at 15 Torakina Road, to the federal Environment Minister for advice on their requirements to protect threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 199 9.
The Wallum ecosystem is home to multiple threatened species, including the Wallum froglet, glossy black cockatoo and a small, rare population of coastal koalas.
Ms Smith has written to the State and Federal Ministers asking them to quit buck passing and take action available to them under the law to protect this precious place.
“There are two ways that this path to extinction for threatened species and an extraordinary ecosystem can be halted. One is for either the State planning minister or the Federal Environment Minister to call the development in and ensure that species are protected, or for the developer to refer it to the Federal Environment Minister.” Said Ms Smith.
“There is no social license for this development and that is why over 6000 local people are protesting and dozens are camping in the trees to halt the path of destruction. Once the bulldozers are in it’s over.” Ms Smith said.
James Barrie, ecologist and Save Wallum campaigner, said:
“W a llum is irreplaceable. The unique ecology, the cultural values. Even the story, the way it was hidden from the community, presented as a degraded land that the development will ‘ecologically enhance’ with artificial frog ponds that are known to fail for the threatened species they are meant to manage.”
“We have to stand up to this kind of destruction that gets made permissible under loopholes in planning legislation. It’s actually illegal activity that the loopholes permit and not even the Forestry Commission could log these trees.” said Mr Barrie.