17 August 2016
Local trees under threat because of Premier Baird’s proposed new biodiversity laws
Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) has made a damning appraisal of the Baird government’s proposed new biodiversity and tree-clearing laws, which will see the repeal of local council Tree Preservation Orders.
SSROC is a peak body representing 15 local government bodies including Ashfield, Bankstown, Botany Bay, Burwood, Canada Bay, Canterbury, Sydney, Hurstville, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Randwick, Rockdale, Sutherland, Waverley, and Woollahra councils.
The organization has warned in its submission to the government review that the reforms would be bad for wildlife, and add administrative burdens and costs to local government.
Key concerns raised in the SSROC submission
- “We note that the SEPP is intended to replace Council Tree Preservation Orders: SSROC is not aware of any justification for this change, and is of the view that the Council Tree Preservation Orders effectively protect urban street trees. SSROC would seek to retain the existing system, especially in view of an increased need for tree canopy as a climate change adaptation mechanism.”
- “The draft legislation … puts facilitating development and cutting red tape ahead of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.”
- “No species or habitat is protected from development, irrespective of how endangered they might be.”
- “The reforms presented so far will offer nothing for the protection of open space, reserves, bushland remnants or other green space.”
- “In some way it conflicts with every basic principle of ESD.”
- “Its complexity, lack of controls, and inadequate monitoring and evaluation provision would greatly complicate the administrative burden.”
See full submission here www.nature.org.au/media/250490/ssroc-biodiversity-reform-submission.pdf
Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said: “Nobody supports Mike Baird’s deeply flawed package – not the scientists, not the conservationists, and not SSROC, which has a clear understanding that these laws threaten native plants and animals across Sydney’s suburbs.
“Mr Baird should scrap this flawed package of laws and either fund Local Land Services to make the Native Vegetation Act works as it was intended, or go back to the drawing board and come up with another way to provide workable, strong protections for nature in NSW.
“From the very beginning, the government’s decision to scrap the Native Vegetation Act and Threatened Species Conservation Act was a political fix designed to appease the more extreme elements in the agricultural community.
“The laws the government has proposed will further the short-term interests of big agribusiness and property developers, not the communities and wildlife in the southern Sydney region that depend on healthy soils, waterways and bushland for their long-term survival.”
The Baird government is now reviewing more than 7000 submissions it received in response to its proposed package. It has committed to introducing legislation to parliament in October.
Members of SSROC
Ashfield, Bankstown, Botany Bay, Burwood, Canada Bay, Canterbury, Sydney, Hurstville, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Randwick, Rockdale, Sutherland, Waverley, and Woollahra councils.
Tags
Forests and wildlife
Let others know about this issue