The Conservation Council ACT has called on the Riverview Group (Ginninderry) to go back to the drawing board on the upgrades of Drake Brockman Drive.
On 28 November, the ACT Planning and Land Authority approved Stage 2 of the upgrade of Drake Brockman Drive between the entrance to Ginninderry Estate and Cussen Street in Higgins. The upgrades will destroy 510 trees. Of primary concern is that at least 20 very mature trees, remnant yellow box and red gums, will be bulldozed. These are trees that were co-dominant and common prior to European settlement. Today, very few of these woodland giants remain.
There have been sightings of a significant amount of species found around Drake Brockman Drive. About 300 species of moth have been recorded in one home garden just to the north in Higgins. Woodland birds travelling through the tree canopy eat the insects they find in the suburbs. Some of the rarer bird species that do this include Scarlet Robins, Varied Sitellas, Crescent Honeyeaters and White-winged Trillers. While feeding their young, Superb Parrots regularly travel north-south from nests to feed in Belconnen suburbs. For this species, the loss of trees represents a significant loss of foraging habitat.
One very important species is Little Eagles. There are currently three Little Eagle nests very close to Drake Brockman Drive. These three nests have each been used by one pair at different points in time. This is only part of their range. Thinking regionally, the habitat of these beautiful raptors is shrinking rapidly. The species needs at least 200 metres around each nest tree, so the clumsy fledgings can roost and perch in trees nearby as they learn to prey on rabbits, lizards and middle-sized birds like starlings and magpies.
While some 600 saplings will be planted to create a new replacement landscape for the upgrade, it will take decades before those saplings form tree hollows that are essential for Canberra’s native wildlife. This will destroy essential habitat for these species.
The Conservation Council recognises that, with 11,500 homes being constructed in West Belconnen over the next 30 years, improvements are needed to connecting roads. However, what has been approved here is an obscenity. Under the approval that’s been granted, at its narrowest point, the bulldozers will be clearing an area that is 55.5 metres wide. This is more than double what is needed for a road of this size, with increased clearing driven by the provision of a service road and extremely large traffic island between lanes. This is totally unnecessary and will result in the destruction of endangered natural habitat for little to no gain.
This is particularly astonishing as the project has not always looked like this. In May 2018, the Preliminary Sketch Plan and Report indicated only 128 trees would be removed. At that time, 45 regulated trees were to be destroyed. The precise number of mature trees to be lost now is not clear. The original plan said the road would be within two parallel lines. It did not indicate the entire area within those two lines would be bulldozed. It was a modest proposal.
Riverview, the developer of this project, says on their website that they ‘strive to build communities that meld with their surroundings’. They say they ‘design to leave a light touch on the environment, to protect the natural landscape’. In this case this is clearly not true. Here, no part of a very important wildlife corridor that runs along a ridge line comprising trees on both sides of the existing road will remain. These trees are used by a great many species. For some species, their use is north-south. For others, it’s east-west.
Since the publication of that original plan, the ACT Government has passed the Urban Forest Act 2023. Under the Act, all public trees are meant to be protected. The Government has published an action plan designed, supposedly, to minimise the loss of mature native trees. However, this plan seems to have not been applied at when approving this project.
When you consider that more trees will be lost if Stage 3 is approved and proceeds to the corner of William Hovell Drive; and a further 400 trees will be bulldozed to widen William Hovell Drive, there’s only one conclusion possible: the environment of southwest Belconnen is under attack.
We recognise the road needs to be upgraded to accommodate the new residents. However, Drake Brockman Drive upgrade is happening in an environmentally sensitive area, so we say, please go back to the drawing board. This road does not need to be so wide. If Riverview reduced the design, it would not likely to need further approval. The mature trees can and should be retained. Value the understory too. There continue to be patches of spear and wallaby grasses. This is valuable habitat for different species that can be improved while observing sensible bushfire fuel reduction practices.
This issue is not over. While the Development Application has been approved, it is subject to several conditions, including the development and acceptance of detailed designs and asset acceptance from Transport Canberra. The Conservation Council will be pushing Riverview Group and Transport Canberra to adapt these plans to reduce the scope of the project and to protect these important remnant trees.
To find our more, join, Save Our Habitat Trees – a local group campaigning to save these important trees.