Minimising our impact

We’re working hard to minimise our impact on the environment, by protecting threatened species, native wildlife, and significant trees and vegetation. We’ll also be reusing natural resources throughout the project.

Protecting threatened species

The project area is home to a threatened population of nationally significant Southern Brown Bandicoots and Growling Grass Frogs, and we’ll be doing all we can to enhance their numbers.

We’ll be protecting them from predators, and we’ll build more than 35 underpasses and fauna crossings so they – and other wildlife in the area – can safely cross the road. We’re also building a number of habitat ponds nearby for native animals.

We’ll be sensitive to local flora and fauna by avoiding high impact works during breeding seasons.

And, we’ll be keeping an eye on things into the future. For 10 years following construction we’ll be conducting environmental surveys to monitor threatened species, to make sure what we’re doing to protect them is working.

Assessing trees and vegetation

We’ve consulted a team of independent ecologists to conduct Biodiversity Assessments to determine areas that may have biodiversity sensitivities and to inform our planning.

We’ve also consulted an independent arborist to identify trees that can be retained and trees that require protection during construction.

Protecting trees and vegetation during construction

Where trees are being retained, we’ll establish a fenced tree protection zone for the duration of construction activities.

This protects the area around a tree, above and below ground, to allow the tree to continue growing. We’ll also set up no go-zone fences to protect vegetation during construction.

Timber reuse

Timber will be repurposed where possible. Some of the things we’ll be doing with the timber include:

• turning it into furniture
• using suitable logs and tree hollows as habitat improvements for wildlife
• creating mulch to use on landscaping works or in the community.

Please contact us if you have ideas about how timber can be reused for the benefit of the community.

Clearing trees and vegetation

We share the value the community places on the environment, and we’re working hard to minimise tree removal and disturbance to wildlife where we can. An ecologist will complete pre-clearance inspections and an ecologist or wildlife handler will be on site during any tree removal to relocate wildlife.

We will retain as many existing trees and vegetation as possible, however we do need to remove some trees and shrubs to deliver these important upgrade works and improve safety for all road users.

The majority of vegetation that needs to be removed are small shrubs. We’ll be replacing all trees removed across the project area with trees that are indigenous to the area.

In addition to the replacement planting, we’ve secured over 6 hectares of offset vegetation. This means we’ll be protecting and managing existing native vegetation at a nearby site, to compensate for the removal of native vegetation on the project.

Factsheets

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act approval

The project has potential to impact listed threatened species and communities protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC)  specifically the:

• Growling Grass Frog (Litoria raniformis); and
• Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus obesulus).

Preliminary documentation

The project was assessed by preliminary documentation and approval was granted by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment on the 18 September 2020.

The following management plans will support the project in accordance with the EPBC approval.