Mt Gilead: more needs to be done to protect koalas

The Total Environment Centre has told the NSW and Federal governments that the current Mt Gilead housing development must do more to protect koalas and called for the release of missing koala data.

The Mt Gilead development, located along Appin Road, just seven kilometres south of the centre of Campbelltown, is currently the subject of two public exhibitions.

The first, ending today, is a federal assessment; the second, ending on January 31, is an application by Campbelltown Council and the developer (Lendlease Communities Mt Gilead Pty Ltd) to offset the impacts of the development on threatened species, including koalas, under NSW legislation.

“Mt Gilead is uniquely situated between the Georges and Nepean Rivers and currently provides local koalas with a short distance (just a few kilometres) to travel between the two river corridors,’’ says Jeff Angel, the Executive Director of the Total Environment Centre.

“TEC’s view is that the proposed housing development will make it near impossible for koalas to successfully make this crossing, further restricting important koala movement in the region,’’ he said.

“We also understand that in late 2017 ecologists engaged by Campbelltown City Council conducted fauna surveys and found evidence of koalas on the Mt Gilead development site.

“This information is directly relevant to the current public exhibition, yet it has been left out.

“We have requested that it now be included as a matter of urgency and that the public exhibitions be extended so that the public is fully informed,’ Mr Angel said.

The TEC is also critical of the assessment of impacts on the local koalas provided by Eco Logical consultants on behalf of Lendlease Communities (Mt Gilead) Pty Ltd.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“The Eco Logical report (dated 11 December 2017) seriously understates the impacts on the local koala population likely to be associated with the Mt Gilead development,’’ says Mr Angel.[/social_quote]

“We are urging the local community to get involved in the consultation by the two governments, which should not have occurred over the holiday period.”