Koalas need trees like these

Koalas need trees like these


Protecting the trees in which they live, work and play is the key to koala survival in the Redlands.
How well have we been doing? Well the number of koalas in our city declined by an estimated 65% between 1999 and 2010. By this simple measure, our community has to do a much better job of looking after koalas.
What can we do to improve the prospect of keeping a viable population of koalas in our City? Stop clearing, felling and chopping down trees. And plant some more trees to replace ones that have been removed over the past two decades.

Local laws that are supposed to protect trees

A while ago the Redland City Council asked the community to review 28 draft local laws. These dealt with all manner of things from animal management to car parking. But the Council’s consultation process did not include any changes to the local laws about tree protection:
Local Law No. 6 Protection of Vegetation and
Subordinate Local Law No. 6 (Protection of Vegetation)
Local law 6 allows the Council to impose Vegetation Protection Orders on trees situated on freehold property but the subordinate local law 6 allows a landowner to remove protected trees where they are:

  • within ten metres of a house “lawfully in existence at the date of commencement of this Local Law”
  • within three (3) metres of the site of a proposed building or structure (other than fence) in respect to which a development permit or preliminary approval has been granted…  or
  • within three (3) metres of the boundary between land under separate ownership …

Amending local laws to save koalas

If we want to save koalas by saving their trees then here are some changes that we could make:

  1. The Council could  impose vegetation protection orders on all mature koala habitat trees in those areas where koalas are known to visit.
  2. The Council could amend the subordinate local law so that new subdivisions do not automatically cancel vegetation protection orders. This would mean that in the first instance, developers would have to try and develop within the constraints of existing vegetation which supports koalas.
  3. The subordinate local law 6 could be amended to provide for offset provisions where the offsetting vegetation must be a minimum of ten years old. So anyone with plans to subdivide would have to grow new trees in an approved location before removing the trees that are “in the way” of a subdivision.

There may be other and better ways of achieving the objective which is to ensure that more koala trees are retained, particularly when areas are developed for new or infill housing subdivisions.
In particular the draft City Plan 2015 should have a clearly stated koala conservation objective and this should be supported with detailed constraints on development which are supported by stronger local laws on vegetation protection.

Community support for saving koala trees

In the past few weeks there has been strong community concern about a subdivision in Ormiston that could result in 20 koala trees being removed.

Save our Koalas by Saving their Trees Facebook page has attracted more than 800 supporters in its first month.
Saving our Future: Preserving Trees for Redlands Koalas, an electronic petition, has also been supported strongly with more than 500 signatures already.
Redlands2030 would like to find out what the community thinks about saving koalas by making our tree protection local laws more effective. Please complete the poll below and encourage others to do so as well.
[yop_poll id=”5″]
Previous posts on this website about protecting koalas include:
Where have all the koalas gone?
Action needed to save koalas in the Redlands
Proposed subdivision will remove 20 koala trees

Lynda Shields, Oct 26, 2014

It’s extremely important to protect these beautiful animals. To ensure future generations and international visitors see Koalas in the wild, we must protect now.

Josie Oldroyd, Oct 25, 2014

No matter how good the laws on tree preservation are unless they are enforced they are useless. Koalas will be long gone by the time trees grow enough to feed more than a single Koala.

Anonymous, Oct 23, 2014

We really appreciate this article expressing so clearly what we know in our hearts is the way Redlands should be proceeding. This is a wonderful part of Australia and deserves to be valued for the flora and fauna that flourish here, when permitted. Surely our future landscapes should belong to more than greedy developers with no ethical guidelines.
Gloria Claus

Big Boy, Oct 24, 2014

Gloria thank you for your comments re our landscapes and greedy developers.The Ormiston newsletter from the councillor shows she tried to negotiate with the developer to leave the trees at the edge of the horse paddock but no luck but then she is working with the other developer in the same street to get everything right for environment and people. What is the difference?
Why do some developers bend over backwards to get it right and others just thumb their nose at what residents are saying? Particularly when they have been around for a long time. What will their legacy be? Houses or homes? Are they used to getting their own way?

Luke, Oct 22, 2014

As long as people keep voting for pro development governments and councils,you can forget about saving koalas, thier trees and anyother form of wildlife habitat. Greed knows no boundary’s when it is wildlife V money, if left to money in the next elections either Sate or Council the wildlife will lose, if you want to save your wildlife and its habitat think very hard who you put your tick to. Once its gone its gone forever.

Please note: Offensive or off-topic comments will be deleted. If offended by any published comment please email thereporter@redlands2030.net

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