The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) has expressed concern about the effectiveness of the state’s environmental watchdog, following a recommendation by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to approve the Smith’s Beach resort development.
CCWA lodged a submission with the EPA in early March appealing the decision, with the City of Busselton City also lodging a formal objection last week.
CCWA Executive Director Matt Roberts questioned the EPA’s approval methodology, particularly due to the scale of the development in such an environmentally sensitive location.
He said the development would have unacceptable impacts on Priority Ecological Communities through habitat loss and increased human disturbance, and also poses significant risks to fauna.
“This decision speaks to a larger problem - if these types of projects are being given the green light under our current EPA framework, then these frameworks need to be re-worked,” Mr Roberts said.
“If we’re being told that this approval was in accordance with existing environment laws, then clearly those laws are broken.
“To halt the decline of WA’s nature, governments must stop approving developments that clear the habitat of threatened species - including the critically endangered western ringtail possum - and ensure recovery plans are fully funded and implemented.
“No matter how the EPA presents the numbers, the scale of this development at this environmentally sensitive coastal location is fundamentally flawed. It will result in the loss of 9.43 ha of native vegetation, the modification of a further 10.47 ha for bushfire and landscape management, and provision for clearing of up to 17.80 ha.
“This clearing and modification will produce unacceptable risks to any fauna dependent on this habitat for food, shelter, breeding, refuge from predators, and ecological links to other areas.
“Along with western ringtail possums, the development area contains several other conservation significant mammals, birds, reptiles, and invertebrates, and includes black cockatoo habitat.
“Ironically, the approval of developments in these pristine areas undermines the very reason people want to engage with them responsibly and to preserve them for future generations.
"We continue to call on the WA Appeals Convenor to recommend that Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn reject the proposal.”
ENDS
Media contact: John Cooke – 0433 679 780