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.

logging in the central highlands

Last week I attended a roundtable with Environment Minister, Gavin Jennings, hosted by Tammy Lobato. It gave me the opportunity to raise some concerns about logging in the Central Highlands.

I talked to the Minister about the amount of salvage logging that has taken place in the last year. Since the bushfires last year, 715,000 m3 has been logged in Yarra Ranges and Murrundindi, double the intake of any standard year.

This is a logging coupe at Starvation Creek. Logging is changing the make up of our forests and increasing fire risk throughout the region.

Given the increase of logs available I to mills asked the Minister if the salvage wood currently in the supply chain is being delivered under deferred payment arrangements or at discounted rates?

I went on to talk about the audit process, my concern is that audits have not taken place since 2007 or if they have taken place they have not been made publicly available. This is contrary to the commitment to public transparency made by Minister Jenning’s predecessor, John Thwaites under the Our Forests Our Future policy. I went on to talk about concerns that the Auditor General no longer has the audit function as it will now be carried out by the Department of Treasury and Finance.

I also talked about the amount of logging trucks that are travelling laden on roads outside of the hours permitted (in accordance with the Code of Forests Practice). The code is specific in that trucks must not operate between dusk and dawn. At the roundtable I referred to a logging truck in Lilydale at 1:39am on Wednesday 12 May. I asked the Minister to clarify how the provisions of the Code of Practice are being enforced, as logging trucks on road late at night are a regular occurrence in Yarra Ranges.

Even this week, laden logging trucks were spotted on the road travelling in the wee small hours. This is an ongoing issue as it is commonplace to sight logging trucks operating in the dead of night and it will be good to get clarification on whether the code has been breached.

Community members took great interest in the roundtable and raised many far ranging environmental issues from the Climate Change White Paper, weeds, logging in water catchments, renewable energy, waterways and Container Deposit Legislation, to name a few. Local government also raised the issue of public street lighting and the cost impost of changing to more energy efficient lighting without any support from state government.