ABOUT
THE CAUSE

Why we believe our community was not adequately consulted

The results of meagre community surveying were grossly unrepresentative of overarching community values and attitudes towards this development – likely due to pandemic distraction and the minimal and misleading efforts Clarence Property made to advertise the development. Alongside a small newspaper advert, only 200 people were notified via a letterbox drop. Our community were not informed of the depth of ecological significance of Wallum and Clarence Property even went as far as to say that the development would improve the ecological values of the site.

Works for the DA were scheduled to commence in October, 2023 – pending the issue of Byron Shire Council’s Subdivsion Works Certificate.

What makes Wallum so special?

It is a place of deep cultural and ecological significance, ‘Wallum’ also constitutes a significant part of the mere 1% remaining Wallum Healthland in Byron Shire - the only representation of this ecological community in Brunswick Heads.

Abounding wildflowers crown the surface of Wallum’s sandy soil, under which lies thousands of years of organic deposition of unique plant matter and bushfire ash. This process culminates into what we know as coffee rock - a peat substrate that hardens around sand, forming a water-dense layer that encourages permeation and retention of water for wildflower swamps. This unique soil matrix is what sustains the extremely specific Wallum Wildflower Heathland ecology.

76 old-growth Scribbly Gums will be destroyed if this development goes ahead.

Some of these Scribbly Gums are 300-400 years old, bearing large hollows that provide irreplaceable habitat for wildlife.

Due to the specialised ecology of Wallum, it is host to an astounding number of threatened species of flora and fauna. Some of which are of State and National conservation significance. Including:

Koala, Wallum Sedge Frog, Wallum Froglet, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Eastern Grass Owl, Grey-Headed Flying Fox, White-Throated Needletail, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Collard Kingfisher, Common Planigale, Pale-Vented Bush-Hen, Little Bent-Wing Bat, Large Bent-Wing Bat, Greater Broad-Nosed Bat and Southern Myotis, Pink Nodding Orchid and the Endangered Ecological Community of Swamp Sclerophyll Forest (on Coastal Floodplain)

Leading ecologists who have put forth concerns about this development proposal, have also remarked that with adequate surveying more threatened species are likely to be verified as present. Including: Mitchells Rainforest Snail, Regent Honeyeater, and Swift Parrot.

Why will Clarence Property’s Development pose a serious threat to Wallum’s threatened wildlife?

Glossy Black Cockatoo REPORT

Download 2023 Save Wallum

Glossy Black Cockatoo REPORT

by Anastasia Guise

Click on image above

Koala

Bushfires and Habitat loss have ravaged our Nation’s Koala population, rendering them officially an Endangered Species. 70% of NSW’s Koala population were estimated to have been killed in the Black Summer Bushfires.

Without intervention focusing on conserving Koala habitat, Koalas are predicted to become extinct before 2050.

There are koala scratch-marks apparent upon Wallum’s Scribbly Gums.

Scribbly Gum leaves are an important part of the koala nutrition matrix, as are Swamp Mahogany Trees - 27 of which are also earmarked for destruction. Clarence Property plans to replace these mature trees with 54 saplings.

Saplings would take up to 30 years to reach a point of providing sufficient habitat and food source for Wallum’s Koalas.

Even upon reaching sufficient maturity, these saplings may not be suitable due to the variable nutritional quality of individual trees. Additionally, improper landscape positioning will not provide adequate corridors for koalas to travel within.

Perhaps most importantly, the developer has made no considerations towards climate-driven increases in temperature, which will mean a koala’s survival will increasingly depend upon denser foliage under which to shelter.

Wallum Sedge Frog and Wallum Froglet

Thriving communities of Wallum Sedge Frog and Wallum Froglet are found on-site at Wallum. These two unique species are both Vulnerable to Extinction - primarily due to habitat loss from coastal development - with the Wallum Sedge frog being listed as a Species of National Environmental Significance.

Clarence Property’s ‘Habitat Management’ measures have negated the Wallum Sedge Frog entirely, whilst focusing only on the Wallum Froglet.

Clarence Property has proposed to replace the destruction of Wallum’s acid frog habitat with artificial ‘Breeding Ponds’ - the viability of which has been brought into serious question by leading ecologists. Both species of frog are highly sensitive to habitat modification, hydrology changes and pH levels – requiring the acidic, tannin-rich water that Wallum ecology uniquely provides.

Clarence Property has failed to establish any precedent of breeding success in artificial conditions, the least of which should be a minimum of five years of proven breeding success, considering the Vulnerable status of these frogs.

Alongside habitat destruction, the proximity of roads and houses will pose additional threats to Wallum’s acid frogs, with noise and light pollution associated with stress and potential breeding behaviour disturbances.

Glossy Black Cockatoo

Drought and climate changes have wrought extreme stress upon our Glossy Black Cockatoo populations.

The Black Summer Bushfires wiped out more than 45% of habitat on the Mid-North Coast of NSW.

Wallum’s She-oaks are a vital food source for these Vulnerable to Extinction Glossy Black Cockatoos. Clarence Property’s development has marked 38 mature She-oak trees for destruction.

A non-breeding Glossy Black Cockatoo can process up to 580 She-oak cones per day. While a pair can process a total of 420,000 She-oak cones per year.

Glossy Black Cockatoos are infamously picky eaters!

They have preferred feeding trees, which they will return to year after year.

Clarence Property proposes to plant new saplings in place of the old trees they’re destroying. However, She-oaks take many years to produce cones, and form strength enough to support the weight of a Glossy Black.

She-oak trees are dioecious - only the female tree will produce cones. This determination can’t be made until a tree has fully matured, so Clarence Property cannot ensure these trees will become a viable food source.

Clarence Property also proposes to install 50 nest boxes to offset the habitat loss for Glossy Black Cockatoos and other tree-dwellers. As food and habitat ‘specialists’, Glossy Black Cockatoos are known to be extremely selective against artificially-constructed replacement hollows - which will often degrade within 5-10 years. In fact, there are no recordings of successful artificial nest use across South-East Queensland or Far North-East NSW.

For the Glossy Black Cockatoos that frequent Wallum, Clarence Property’s proposed destruction of the 76 Scribbly Gums would prove devasting, as their horizontal branches are known roosting sites; their deeply-set hollows ideal for nesting.

It takes 200 years for a Scribbly Gum to even begin to form a hollow, and

more than 300 years for that hollow to become large enough to be suitable for a breeding pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos.

These trees are simply irreplaceable.