144 - 144 Sawtell Road, Toormina NSW 2452

We do not question the need for, or importance of, an essential public emergency service such as this Ambulance station, and appreciate compromises must be made when considering environmental factors.
However; if the Planning authority is serious about it's very own koala plan of management and other environmental planning constraints eg: Threatened Species Act, then the proposed offsets contained in this DA for the removal of the approximately 60 native tree species on site seem token at the best, and totally insufficient at worst. While we understand that the existing trees vary in size and condition and only 2 of the trees are within the mapped primary koala habitat area, we're not sure that koalas and other wildlife follow the map.
The primary local koala food species on site are -
- nine Eucalyptus robusta (swamp mahogany) trees. All but 1 are to be removed.
The secondary koala food species on site include -
- five blackbutt (E. pilularis) of which 1 is to be retained.
- four smooth barked apple (Angophora costata) to be removed.
- 2 white mahogany (E. acmenoides) to be removed.
- 1 bloodwood (E. intermedia) which is to be removed and is also a known food source for the vulnerable squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis ), known to exist in the local area as recently as 2011.
The offsets recommended in the DA document labelled Appendix B Section 5.3 p.19.
while maybe complying with the letter of CHCC DCP 2015 fail to make sense in terms of replacing the total value of the habitat lost to the local koala and other wildlife as a result of this proposal and we question the claim that there will be 'no net loss' of habitat.
The DA recommendations for compensatory plantings are -
- 3 pink euodia (Melicope elleryana) - an non-endemic introduced street tree which has become an invasive pest of local native bushland and is not a koala feed tree.
- 3 Blackbutt (E. pilularis) - a non-preferred koala feed tree, self seeding and increasingly dominating in the local ecology with excessive shading and future limb drop risks in an urban environment.
- 4 swamp mahogany (E. robusta) - that makes sense.
We suggest these species also be given consideration - tallowwood (E. microcorys), red gum, (E. tereticornis), Grey gum (E. propinqua), white mahogany (E. acmenoides) pink bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia,)
We also recommend a suitable site with connectivity to the adjacent primary koala habitat be sought before further recommendations and purchase are made and also recommend that only local sourced planting stock is used as stock sourced from outside this locale can have different chemistry and may not provide suitable koala
food requirements. Thankyou - Dave Wood, Boambee East

Re. above comment. Edit '60 native tree species' - replace with '30 native trees' in second sentence. Confused by numbering system in Tree Survey doc.
Thankyou - Dave Wood, Boambee East