ALDINGA SCRUB CONSERVATION PARK

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK (15:19): I seek leave to make an explanation before asking the Minister for Environment and Conservation a question about the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park.

Leave granted.

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: Houses are being constructed by the Canberra Investment Corporation at Aldinga in what is known as the 'Sunday' development abutting the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park, with a small buffer of about 10 metres width.

When the development was first proposed, locals were told that residents in this subdivision would not be allowed to have cats but, unfortunately, that is not the case. This is just one of the many pressures emerging on the park. Other pressures include people walking their dogs and children riding their bikes. This is in fact a conservation park and not a recreation reserve.

There are 691 housing blocks so, if one assumes 2.5 people per dwelling, there will ultimately be more than 1,700 people living in an area where the open space is minimal. Slightly east of the Sunday development is the Bayswater development. The combination of these two developments will obviously have a very high impact on the park, particularly in terms of people looking for recreation space and openness.

Urban development this close will also see the high likelihood of feral plants escaping into the park. The Save our Scrub Group is keen to see some of the allotments close to the park purchased as a buffer. I ask the minister not to rule this out at this stage, because the group suggests that a combined effort from the local, state and federal governments might be able to achieve this.

The scrub has important ecological associations. Some of the species are endemic, and 84 plant species are of conservation significance. Echidnas live in the park, and I am told that the pink gums there are one of the last remaining intact coastal communities in the state. Additionally, there is a hydrological connection between the scrub and the nearby washpool, with 130 megalitres of water feeding into the washpool each year, with the park, in turn, dependent on water coming through from the site on the Sunday development. My questions are:

1. Given the ecological importance and the increasing pressure on it, will the minister investigate ways to educate the nearby community about appropriate use of the park and provide continuing information to residents about plants which have the capacity to become weeds if they escape into the park?

2. Will the minister conduct a review of access to the park, including the construction of high fences, limiting the number of gates and ensuring gate construction restricts access by bikes? Will she investigate ways to cat-proof the park in order to protect birds and reptiles, and will she ensure increased signage and consider the construction of boardwalks to effectively direct users to stick to paths?

3. Is the minister committed to this park retaining its status as a conservation park, rather than letting it be trampled on, downgraded and effectively becoming nothing more than a recreation reserve?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:22): I thank the honourable member for her most important question and her ongoing interest in conservation matters. Indeed, a residential housing development has been under way on land adjacent to the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park. It is consistent with the existing City of Onkaparinga Development Plan and it has received development approval from the local council, which is obviously the relevant planning authority.

The state government has worked throughout the residential development approval process to secure a range of measures and conditions to help minimise the impact of the development of that park, so we are very mindful of some of the potential problems which could occur. One of the measures secured was a commitment by the developer to provide $200,000 towards the preparation and implementation of an environmental protection strategy for adjacent areas of the Aldinga Conservation Park by the Department for Environment and Heritage.

I have also been advised that the strategy was prepared by the DEH in about 2005, in consultation with community groups. Actions from the strategy completed to date include a vegetation condition audit and the construction of a new fence along the northern park boundary, restricting pedestrians to one gate. DEH is currently preparing a community awareness package, which will include information promoting the use of locally indigenous plants, living with wildlife and general park information.

The government has already successfully negotiated with the City of Onkaparinga and the developer to increase the width of the buffer zone adjacent to the northern boundary of the park and secured agreement for this area to be planted with local indigenous species. Also, I am advised that a strip of farmland, 160 metres wide, was purchased in 1991 as a buffer along the northern boundary of the park and was subsequently added to the park. When the buffer area set aside on the development site is combined with this land—an overall buffer varying in width from 188 metres to 230 metres—it will separate the remnant habitat of the Aldinga scrub from the closest residential housing blocks.

I am advised that DEH has recently met with local interest groups to discuss their request for funding to purchase land between the development and the conservation park to form a buffer. We work with the council, through our One Million Trees Program, for tree plantings, and there are a number of other initiatives as well. A range of action is undertaken around the park that contributes to minimising the impact of the development.

In terms of any future needs of the park, we continue to consult with local stakeholders and interest groups and attempt to accommodate their concerns and interests wherever we can. I am not aware of any intention to change the status of that very important park.