JANDAKOT
AIRPORT PROPOSALS
Jandakot Airport
Holdings (JAH), the owner of the 50 year lease of Jandakot Airport,
is proposing to clear 167 ha of native vegetation on the site which
has a total area of 622 ha. Some of the clearing (30 ha) is to construct
a fourth runway running approximately east-west to take the congestion
off an existing east-west runway. Clearing (33 ha) is also proposed
to extend the existing three runways. Approximately 96 ha is proposed
to be cleared for a commercial development consisting of business, office,
bulk retail, showroom, warehouse, storage and café uses. Some of this
commercial development is proposed to be located under the flight path
of the proposed 4th (and existing 3rd) runway.
A further 6 ha will be cleared to provide southern and northern access
to the commercial development. This proposal is currently being assessed
by the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the
Arts (DEWHA).
The airport
already contains a 132 ha commercial precinct for business, office,
bulk retail, showroom, warehouse and storage uses, of which 53 ha remains
to be cleared. There is some dispute whether the 79 ha that was cleared
(and the 53 ha remaining to be cleared) was done with appropriate authority
and permission. Currently there are only 5 developed businesses/buildings
in this area with about 90% of the area vacant, and further tenants
are uncertain or in some cases not going ahead with earlier plans.
The areas proposed
to be cleared are Banksia woodland in very good to excellent condition.
The Banksia woodland contains approximately 225 Grand Spider Orchids
(Caladenia huegelii) and 4 Glossy Leaved Hammer Orchids (Drakaea
elastica) and provides habitat and food for Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos
which roost and feed (but do not nest) in the area. Of these, 40
Caladenia huegelii and all 4 Drakaea elastica are in the
area proposed to be cleared. Each of theses species is on the WA State
and Commonwealth Endangered Species list.
The current
proposal is an improvement over an earlier proposal (2007/2008) where
201 Caladenia huegelii and all 4 Drakaea elastica were
in the area to be cleared. The earlier plan proposed to translocate
the 200 Caladenia huegelii into a 10 ha “Orchid Park” which
was surrounded by warehouses and show rooms, and was remote and not
connected with the nearby Ken Hurst Park. This proposal was not approved
by DEWHA, in part because of submissions opposing the proposal by the
WA Native Orchid Study and Conservation Gropu (WANOSCG), the Friends
of Ken Hurst Park, the Urban Bushland Council and others.
The current
proposal includes a continuous corridor between Ken Hurst Park and the
northern area of the airport containing most of the Caladenia huegelii.
This was on the basis of a comment from WANOSCG and the Friends of Ken
Hurst Park that a corridor was required between two of the three largest
populations of Caladenia huegelii to allow movement of seeds
and pollinator between the two areas.
In the current
plan, it is proposed to translocate the 40 Caladenia
huegelii and all 4 Drakaea elastica from the area to be cleared.
Their ultimate destination is the preserved orchid area adjacent to
Ken Hurst Park, but this will be via Kings Park where the Botanic Gardens
and Parks Authority is offering (for a price) to undertake more research
on successful translocation techniques and other research on propagation
from seed, survival of seedlings, and conservation of the Thynnid wasp
pollinator and its host plant.
As part of
the current plan, JAH also propose to revegetate and manage for up to
10 years an area of 90 ha of cleared land to the north of the airport
on land owned or managed by the City of Canning. This area was mined
for sand in the 1970s and is almost totally devoid of vegetation. The
City of Canning received a bond from the previous owners/lessees to
cover the cost of revegetation, but it has been claimed that this is
totally inadequate to cover the current cost of revegetation. The City
of Canning was therefore very pleased that JAH have offered to spend
more than $7M revegetating the land at no cost to the City, and have
recently given in-principle approval for JAH to do so. JAH propose to
spread topsoil stripped from the land on the airport site onto the old
sand mine, and to water the area as required to enable tubestock and
broadcast seed to survive. The intent is to return this area to as close
to the pre-existing Banksia woodland as possible, but there is no talk
of re-introducing any orchids into the site, least of all Caladenia
huegelii and Drakaea elastica. As well as the difficulties
in getting any plants to survive in a harsh sterile environment, they
will be subject to other disturbances as the area is used by off-road
vehicles.
With the revegetation
of the sand mine areas, JAH proposes to manage over half of a proposed
conservation area of approximately 657 ha including Ken Hurst Park,
the revegetated sand mines and the conservation area within the Airport
under a conservation management plan. However, correspondence from the
City of Melville who own Ken Hurst Park outright has indicated that
the City of Melville has refused to enter into discussions with JAH
over this matter, and are not considering handing over any responsibility,
shared or otherwise, for the management of Ken Hurst Park to JAH.
WANOSCG, the
Friends of Ken Hurst Park, the Conservation Council of WA, the Wildflower
Society of WA and the Urban Bushland Council are totally opposed to
the proposed development for the following reasons:
- the proposal would
result in clearing 167 ha of irreplaceable biodiversity
- the remnant
vegetation is one of the largest areas of contiguous bushland in the
region. Clearing such an area is another (large absolute) incremental
loss of bushland
- the remnant vegetation
to be cleared is in very good to excellent condition and is recognised
as regionally very significant through its listing as a Bush Forever
site
- the amount of vegetation
cleared is a significant proportion of the remaining habitat for the
Grand Spider Orchid, the Glossy-leaved Hammer Orchid and Carnaby’s
Cockatoo
- the loss of 167
ha of habitat would significantly impact on the Grand Spider Orchid,
the Glossy-leaved Hammer Orchid and Carnaby’s Cockatoo, as well as
other orchids, plants and animals
- the hierarchy of
environmental management is avoid, reduce, mitigate, offset. Caladenia
huegelii and Drakaea elastica are best conserved in-situ.
Translocation and research should not be undertaken before all other
avenues to protect them have been exhausted
- the number of
Caladenia huegelii and Drakaea elastica present on the site
and that would be removed is not known with a sufficient amount of certainty
to allow the impact to be assessed adequately. No recent adequate survey
has been undertaken
- the proposal for
translocating orchids should be the last resort and this is not necessary
since the orchids can be conserved in-situ
- the offer of revegetating
90 ha of totally degraded bushland as an offset is inadequate. An offset
of at least 668 ha would be required at an offset ratio of 4
- there is a huge
risk in not being able to restore the sand mines to the same condition
as the existing bushland on Jandakot Airport even with the proposed
reticulation
- JAH should offer
an offset for already having cleared 79 ha of Banksia woodland before
attempting to offset clearing of more Banksia woodland
- joint management
of Jandakot Airport bushland and Ken Hurst Park is not supported by
other stakeholders
- the level and sincerity
of public consultation is inadequate
- the clearing of
167 ha of remnant vegetation is for commercial gain and is not in the
public interest or for the common good when 79 ha has already been cleared
for this purpose and there are already commercial developments at nearby
Cockburn Central and along nearby Armadale Road
- there are other
feasible and much more environmentally appropriate alternatives.
Actions undertaken
by the Friends of Ken Hurst Park and WANOSCG include the following:
- preparation of submission
opposing the earlier proposal in January 2008
- preparation of submission
opposing the latest proposal in April 2009
- organised meeting
between JAH and WANOSCG, Friends of Ken Hurst Park, Wildflower Society
and Urban Bushland Council in February 2008
- prepared a press
release welcoming DEWHA rejection of JAH proposal in March 2008
- prepared a submission
opposing a minor amendment to the JAH Master Plan proposing to construct
a southern access road in November 2008
- personal meeting
with Managing Director of JAH and Director of Ascot Capital (the owner
of JAH) in March 2009
- organised and attended
site visit with WANOSCG, Friends of Ken Hurst Park and Wildflower Society
to portion of Jandakot Airport bushland in April 2009
- written many letters
to the Commonwealth Minister for Infrastructure
- meetings with the
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
- written many letters
to the editor of the Melville Herald and Melville Times, with several
lead articles and photographs on site
- ABC TV interview
- attendance at public
meeting called by the City of Canning to present JAH revegetation and
road construction proposals, and spoke about real reasons for JAH offers
- letters to the Mayor
and all Councillors of the City of Melville, City of Canning and City
of Cockburn expressing opposition to JAH proposals
- attendance at City
of Canning Council meetings where JAH revegetation and road construction
proposals were tabled, and speaking to the Mayor and Councillors
- attendance at several
meetings of the Jandakot Airport Chamber of Commerce who are also opposed
to the commercial development because JAH have neglected the aviation
side of their operations
- proposing and researching
possible location of JAH commercial development on the already cleared
sand mines rather than on the uncleared bushland, taking into account
the fact that portion of the sand mines and Jandakot Airport are on
the Jandakot Groundwater Mound Priority 1 and 2 protection zones
- meeting with the
Federal Member for Tangney, Dr Dennis Jensen, to discuss the issue and
potential alternative site for commercial development
- making two written
and several verbal requests for permission for WANOSCG and the Friends
of Ken Hurst Park to visit the site to look at or for the orchids. JAH
have refused all but one request. The latest request (1 June 2009) was
refused despite earlier assurances (March 2009) that permission would
be granted on the pretext that the current proposal is now being considered
under the EPBC Act and it is thus inappropriate that any site visits
occur (which is totally incorrect and preposterous)
- preparing a Vision
for the Jandakot Airport bushland and Ken Hurst Park.
Eddy Wajon
WANOSCG Conservation
Officer
Convenor, Friends
of Ken Hurst Park
June 2009