Residents protest to save unburnt forest from developer

[icyfroth]

Residents of a South Coast community are resorting to roadside yoga and other lockdown-appropriate protests in a bid to save their last patch of unburnt bushland from being flattened for a housing estate.

Planning compliance officials were due to inspect the proposed construction site for about 180 homes at Manyana on Tuesday, although Planning Minister Rob Stokes has said he had few powers to stop the work.

Project developer Ozy Homes, which also owns the land, wants to turn the area into a residential development with 182 lots. The site is near Conjola National Park, which remains shut "due to fire damage and hazardous conditions".

Local resident Jorj Lowrey said she was determined to fight for the animals who live in the area, including the greater glider and yellow-bellied glider.

"Animals need a home too, we cannot survive without biodiversity," she said. "People aren't going to go home tonight and say 'we tried'. They will be there the day after and the day after."

President of the Milton branch of the National Parks Association Brigitte Nairn said the small pocket is the only unburnt area in the region.

Ms Nairn said the widespread devastation from the fires across NSW should have prompted the government to put a halt to forestry or other development until studies were done on the impacts of the fires.

Mr Stokes said he "completely" understood the community's concerns "given the devastating impact of the bushfires in the area".

"I never would have approved plans for blanket urban sprawl replacing pristine bushland along an iconic coastline - but the former Labor government did just that," he said. "I've instructed the department to keep a close eye on compliance as work commences, and will not hesitate to order a ???stop work' in the event of the most minor breach."

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/sydney/residents-protest-to-save-unburnt-forest-from-developer/ar-BB1...

That's just outrageous!

So much of our wildlife has been lost in the bushfires, and a developer wants to raze the last bit of bushland left to the poor creatures living there.

[colic2bullsgirlore]

doo doo doo looking out my back door

https://www.nambuccaguardian.com.au/story/6695906/logging-to-begin-in-nambucca-state-forest/

A spokesperson from Forestry Corporation (FC) has confirmed they had "completed planning for a light selective harvesting operation within three compartments of Nambucca State Forest".

According to the plan details, the estimated start date is next Wednesday, April 1.

"However the timing of the operation commencing will depend on a number of factors. Forestry Corporation is prioritising operations within fire affected forest to utilise fire damaged trees, and so the timing of the Nambucca operation will be largely dependent on access to these fire affected forests," the spokesperson said.

[rogespeed]

Has a environment impact study completed as to the benefits to native wildlife of fire affected trees , as part of natural  wildlife recovery post bushfire ?  

[icyfroth]

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@rogespeed wrote:

Has a environment impact study completed as to the benefits to native wildlife of fire affected trees , as part of natural  wildlife recovery post bushfire ?  

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I would hope so.

[davewil1964]

I would be looking at the date in colic's post.

[icyfroth]

Logging likely had significant effect on summer fires: scientists

Logging native forests increases the severity and risk of bushfires and likely had a significant effect on Australia's unprecedented summer fires.

There are a number of ways Australia's past and contemporary logging regimes have made forests more flammable and fire prone, their research finds.

At ground level, logging and other treatments leave debris (up to 450 tonnes per hectare) which increases the fuel load. And it also changes the forest composition, creating extensive, dense areas of young, similar-aged trees, and fewer wet elements like tree ferns.

"Logging takes away big trees and allows wind and sunlight into the system," said co-author Professor James Watson, a conservation scientist at the University of Queensland.

"As a consequence these areas become far drier, and because you have removed the tall trees, lots of young saplings have come up and they're very flammable."

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/logging-likely-had-significant-effect-on-summer-fires-scien...

[bright.ton42]

This is just sick-making. and i'm pretty  sure the Planning Minister could do something about it if he really  wanted to though  he's just seeing  the dollars.   What the fires don't take from our land the developers will.