local ire from fuel break works

report from the roundtable - 12 apr

At this week's council meeting I raised a late item to raise the issue of fuel break works in the Southern Dandenong Ranges as part of the Melbourne Bushfire Protection Program.

Recent works along the edge of the Dandenong Ranges National Park (Nation Rd, Selby) and Zig Zag Road in Belgrave South have raised the ire of many locals. There has been significant environmental degradation which will lead to enormous ongoing weed management, restoration and native vegetation offset costs into the future.

After urgent talks with local environment groups and Parks Victoria onsite at Zig Zag Road I thought it was important to highlight the issue and concerns to not only the Minister for Environment and our local MPs, but to the CEO of Parks Victoria as well.

There is no doubt that the community and environmental groups are in support of the aims of the program, that is to reduce fire fuel and maintain fire breaks across the ranges, however the manner in which this work has been conducted has been far from ideal with enormous damage to significant understorey vegetation, habitat trees and vulnerable species.

In Selby the ground was scalped to bare earth and although a 20 metre fuel break width was a specific condition of the works, in most places the width is 35 metres and in some places the break is over 45 metres wide. These works caused significant destruction of high quality remnant ground flora vegetation and added substantially to the spread of several invasive weeds. The scalping of earth has resulted in erosion that is undermining tree roots and the soil compaction has lead to increased runoff and associated erosion and reduced the ability for in ground infiltration of surface water.

After the work at Nation Road, local Friends of Group members, who work tirelessly enhancing our natural environment spending countless hours weeding and planting, spoke to Parks Victoria to get agreement on a more sensitive approach to works at the Zig Zag Road site in Belgrave South. However the on the grounds work were yet another example of environmental degradation and showed a lack of understanding of the environmental values of the site.

Of particular note on the Zig Zag Road site was the substantial investment of volunteer hours into the site, the Friends of Group had invested over 200 hours of their time and effort pulling weeds and enhancing habitat and the natural environment. The site in Belgrave South is particularly special, it is home to Caladenia Oenochila (Wine-lipped Spider Orchid), which occurs in very few places in Yarra Ranges and is vulnerable in Victoria due to its continued depletion. Volunteers are right to be upset about the works and question why they bothered putting in the effort to see it destroyed.

As I've said earlier in this post, everyone supports the aims of the fuel break works, but there are far better ways to achieve the same outcome without the significant environmental damage.

Environmentalists and community groups are now gravely concerned for the next lot of fuel break works planned for the Black Hill Crown Land Corridor Link in Selby, it's an important piece of land, it provides a vital wildlife corridor to link habitat and fauna across the ranges.

The motion called for:

-Assurances that future ecological assessments of fuel break sites are undertaken onsite on not via a desktop survey, the data currently being used is out of date and doesn't represent what's on the ground.

- That sites identified with high quality values and/or vulnerable species be appropriately managed to ensure fuel break and reduction works are undertaken sensitively to achieve the aims of the program, maximise biodiversity outcomes and minimise impacts.

- Consideration of the implementation of a Code of Practice and appropriate training of contractors.

- Details of management and restoration plans for sites already damaged as well as location of offsets for all the native vegetation that has been removed so far.

Specifically in relation to the Southern Dandenong Ranges the motion called for:

- Suspension of any futher work pending detailed onsite ecological assessment of the Black Hill Crown Land Corridor Link.

- Commitment to collaborate with locals who have the on the ground knowledge of these vast tracts of land and come to agreement and understanding around the extent and method of works, particularly at the Black Hill site.

- A commitment to a minimum three year funding for weed management and rehabilitation of sites affected by major soil disturbance as part of the recent Melbourne Bushfire Protection Program works.

I'm pleased to say that councillors voted unanimously to support the motion.

cockies, who's helping who?

report from the roundtable - 26 oct

I felt the need at this week's council meeting to respond to a letter sent to us by the Minister for Environment, Gavin Jennings about the cockatoo problems in the Dandenong Ranges.

Some of the damage caused by cockatoos in 2009. There is a direct link between feeding and this type of behaviour. Rather than foraging in the wild, cockatoos get an easy feed but still need to hone their beaks by chewing.
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The Minister wrote to council in response to a letter we'd sent regarding the ongoing issue of feeding cockatoos. The Minister made us aware of a flyer the Department of Sustainability and Environment has produced encouraging the public not to feed birds. The Minister went on to say "the material has been provided to the Shire of Yarra Ranges for distribution to interested ratepayers".

It was at this point I felt I needed to call the Minister to account. The Shire paid for the distribution of flyers to "interested ratepayers" and my ward fund paid for the printing of the flyers.

The Minister went on to say there are no plans to develop regulations that prohibit the feeding of wildlife in Victoria or Yarra Ranges even though the Wildlife Act 1975 provides the Head of Power to do so.

cockie chew views to minister

Back in April Council resolved to develop a local law to ban sulphur crested cockatoo feeding (see blog). Part of the resolution included lobbying the Minister for Environment, Gavin Jennings, about the ongoing issues with local cockatoos.

In May we wrote to the Minister seeking his support for our community, particularly those in the Kallista area, in relation to the destruction of property caused by cockatoos. Council asked the Minister for ongoing support from the Department of Sustainability and Environment to continue to campaign to educate the community of the risks to wild birds caused by feeding and associated dependency.

We highlighted to the Minister the many complaints we have received from residents who have suffered extensive damage to their property, in particular to window and door frames as a result of cockatoos that congregate in residential areas. Of particular concern are the properties located close to Grants Picnic Ground where feeding of cockatoos is actively encouraged through the sale of seed from the Park Kiosk.

Council has been advised by DSE experts that because the sulphur crested cockatoos have access to a ready supply of feed from the picnic grounds, they have no need to forage to naturally hone their beaks. As a result of this, the cockatoos chew away at the soft timbers of residential and public property which has resulted in many thousands of dollars of damage.

We outlined to the Minister the steps we have taken in relation to community education, also that we are developing a local law. We told the Minister that it is our preference that the community adopts changes in behaviour and stops feeding cockatoos.

We are seeking the support of the Minister to modify the licence conditions of the kiosk at Grants Picnic Ground to prohibit the selling of wild bird seed. We also asked the Minister for extensive signage to be installed in the Dandenong Ranges National Park and formal contact be made with tour operators advising users that feeding is prohibited in the national park.

It is the first step in lobbying the Minister on this issue, I hope he's listening as the cockatoos have already started chewing away again for season 2010.