Page 3327 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
(d) that the proposed development area is also a habitat for the critically endangered Golden Sun Moth;
(e) that under current government practice, asset protection zones for the proposed suburb of Throsby will have a significant detrimental impact on the surrounding Mulligans Flat and Goorooyarroo Nature Reserves;
(f) that a recent report commissioned by the ACT Government on ecological connectivity and climate change indicates that the area of the proposed development at Throsby falls within a designated high priority habitat connectivity corridor, linking Mulligans Flat and Goorooyarroo Nature Reserves; and
(g) that the ACT Government has committed to review the overall planning for the development of Throsby and to take account of important environmental issues; and
(2) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) ensure that a full assessment of the environmental values of Throsby is undertaken;
(b) refer the development of Throsby for assessment under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999;
(c) incorporate existing biodiversity and connectivity data into ACTMapi to assist all stakeholders from the outset of the planning process to identify and protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats; and
(d) ensure that all asset protection zones are included within the urban development footprint for all new developments.
I am pleased to be able to speak to this motion today on the future of Throsby, a proposed new suburban development in Gungahlin. I am mostly pleased to bring this motion forward today because it is in response to an issue that has been raised by a community of people in the ACT who care passionately about the future of the ACT’s biodiversity—our birds and animals and ecosystems that are special to this area. It is refreshing because the people who work hard to protect our biodiversity have no other agenda bar the protection of that biodiversity. They have no financial interests in the outcome; they get little recognition for their efforts. They are simply speaking on behalf of the natural environment, which we consider to be such an important part of the character of our city and which is under increasing pressure from our expanding urban footprint.
It is worth while to step back a little and acknowledge the pressures that are on our natural environment due to the expansion of our urban footprint. The current government objective is to achieve 50 per cent of this development in greenfield sites and 50 per cent as urban infill. The government is not meeting this objective currently—70 per cent of new developments still occur in greenfield sites, so the pressure on the fringes of our city remains.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video