WALLUM Development: Clarence Property hit back

Consulting (AWC), who have been working on the Wallum site since it was originally approved for development in 2013.”

Mr Kennedy said the highest quality habitats on the site are to the eastern and western extents of the site and they are being retained as conservation areas.

Clarence Property also revised the design of Wallum to avoid clearing approximately 3000m2 of forest vegetation on the land to the south, which would have been cleared under the previous designs.

The company claim, prior to the subdivision works certificate approval by Byron Shire Council, Council engaged its own independent ecologist to review the ecological report who confirmed that all conditions of consent had been fully addressed.

And ‘extensive investigations’ into the impacts of the development were prepared by the company’s ecological consultants.

Three independent ecologists agreed there would be no impacts on threatened species which require further assessment than has already been completed.

Mr Kennedy went on to say 50 artificial hollows will be created to offset the expected loss of 20 hollows.

Hollows identified within scribbly gums marked for removal are ‘unsuitable breeding habitat for the glossy black cockatoo’ due to being too close to the ground, he said.

While BioNet records provided by the Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data (SEED) have determined the Wallum site is unlikely to be frequented by koalas.

But, in the same paragraph, he said the removal of 21 secondary koala food trees will be offset in a conservation corridor on site at a 2:1 ratio resulting in ‘a gain in food trees in the long term’.

Clarence Property will retain 2.6ha of wallum froglet habitat.

To date, 19 homesites in Wallum have already been sold.