Plans to build a sprawling business development have been halted after a member of the public raised concerns about something they spotted on satellite images of the site found online. Seven hectares of land, mapped as some of the world’s rarest forest, had suddenly vanished the pictures from the European space agency satellite showed.
After investigators at the non-profit Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) were tipped off about the clearing, they wrote to the company behind the project with a “please explain”. Before the works began the company had been advised by council to consult with the federal government, because the site could contain critically endangered Central Hunter Valley eucalypt forest and woodland.
The Department of Environment (DCCEEW) confirmed with Yahoo News on Monday it had not received a referral to clear land at McDougall Business Park under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999, a mechanism to assess whether projects will have a “significant impact” on species or ecological communities already threatened with extinction.
“The department is making enquiries into the matter. As enquiries are ongoing the department will not provide further comment,” it said in a statement.
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Investigators found evidence of critically endangered forest close to the business park works. Source: ACF
How did the business park respond?
Mining company Bloomfield Group is one of two partners in the McDougall Business Park venture at Singleton, northwest of Newcastle. When contacted by Yahoo about the land clearing, it redirected all correspondence to a PR company which refused to answer written questions and denied a request for an interview.
In an emailed statement, a McDougall Business Park spokesperson told Yahoo works had been paused while it liaised with the Commonwealth.
“The McDougall Business Park project is aware that claims have been made of unauthorised clearing associated with Stage Four of its subdivision at Singleton. Development was conducted under a valid development consent,” it said.
“McDougall Business Park has corresponded with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water on the clearing under Stage Four of the subdivision, and will liaise with the Department on future action. The two final stages of development have been paused during this process.”
As the Commonwealth’s enquiries into land clearing at the site are ongoing, and the company behind the project is unwilling to answer questions, it remains unclear whether critically endangered habitat was cleared. Yahoo does not allege any wrongdoing by the company.
NSW Government mapping of the business park site suggests the forest cleared (bordered in white) could include Central Hunter Valley eucalypt forest (brown), also known as Central Hunter Ironbark-Spotted Gum Forest. Source: NSW State Vegetation Type Map
Investigators find ‘evidence’ of critically endangered forest near project site
The pause in works was triggered after ACF national nature campaigner Jess Abrahams wrote to Bloomfield Group company McDougall’s Hill Development Holdings, and its partner on the project a week ago. Prior to this, his team visited the site and found evidence of some critically endangered forest still standing in the surrounding area.
“It appears likely that the destruction of native vegetation that has already occurred on the project site, as well as the destruction of additional native vegetation that is planned, constitutes a ‘significant impact’ under the EPBC Act,” he wrote.
Speaking later with Yahoo, he welcomed the company’s decision to pause works at the site. “This is a small but important victory. It’s telling that community volunteers comparing satellite images on their personal devices, and a national environment group have had to bring this case to attention,” he said.
Sightings of eight species federally listed as threatened with extinction have been recorded close to the site, including swift parrots, spotted-tailed quolls, gang-gang cockatoos, grey-headed flying foxes, painted honeyeaters, brown treecreepers, koalas and glossy black cockatoos. Abrahams is frustrated that some clearing occurred at McDougall Business Park before the DCCEEW began making enquiries.
“This is a corporation that runs a big coal mine down the road. They obviously have resources behind them, so they should know what their legal obligations are,” he said of Bloomfield Group.
“They were advised by the local council that they would need to get a federal assessment if they planned to clear this bushland.”
Works at the development site have been paused. Source: ACF
Call for government to enact promised nature protection laws
Noting Australia is in the midst of an extinction crisis, Abrahams argued the government should be on the front foot, investigating developments and their impact on threatened species.
When it was elected to government, the Albanese government promised to create a national Environment Protection Authority that would have increased powers to investigate under the EPBC Act. However, it has failed to push them through parliament.
In late November, talks between Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young produced a written agreement to pass the legislation, and phase out native forest logging, however the deal was axed after an intervention from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
ACF investigators surveyed forest close to the construction site. Source: ACF
Abrahams said it should not be up to environment groups like ACF and volunteer investigators to monitor building sites using satellite applications on their phones.
“The Albanese government must pass new nature laws to create an EPA as early as possible in 2025 to stop vital habitat being wrecked,” he said.
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