A huge win for Coombs Peninsula, over ten years in the making

On the 14th of May, a resolution was passed in the ACT Legislative Assembly to protect the Coombs Peninsula from urban development in the future. This resolution marks an over decade-long struggle to guarantee a level of protection for Coombs Peninsula that is consistent with the rest of the Molonglo River Reserve, one that has often been led by The Conservation Council ACT Region. 

In 2012, the ACT Region Conservation Council’s objection to a proposed development on the Coombs Peninsula was formally taken up by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT). At the time, the Conservation Council was particularly concerned with the threats to the vulnerable Pink-Tailed Worm Lizard, as the bushfire buffer zone of the development proposal overlapped with its habitat. Threats to remnant Box-Gum Grassy Woodland and Natural Temperate Grassland were also key concerns. The Council argued that river corridors such as Coombs Peninsula are areas hosting high biodiversity values, and thus emphasis should be placed on maintaining its ecological integrity. The Conservation Council argued that no area of Coombs Peninsula can simultaneously serve as a buffer zone for bushfires while also being managed for conservation outcomes. Mediations at ACAT successfully led to the bushfire buffer zone being moved beyond the Pink-Tailed Worm Lizard habitat, and an agreement that any urban development on Coombs Peninsula impacting the species would be addressed in the Molonglo River Management Plan. 

At the time, this Management Plan was in the process of being put together by the ACT government. The agreement with ACAT also ensured development proposals on Coombs Peninsula could only be considered once this Management Plan was in place. The Conservation Council was considerably involved in the consultation process for the Management Plan, notably being invited for a period of six months in 2013 to provide input in a series of workshops. The ACAT agreement also stipulated the construction of a stormwater filtration system to ensure any runoff is filtered before reaching the Molonglo River. At the time, stormwater discharges were flowing into Pink-Tailed Worm Lizard habitat unfiltered. 

Alarmingly, however, when the Draft Molonglo River Management Plan was released in 2018, the threat of ecological impacts to the Coombs Peninsula resurfaced. The Draft Plan only included a small sliver of land at the northernmost tip of Coombs Peninsula within the Molonglo River Reserve to be protected. The rest of the Coombs Peninsula was considered as a future site for housing development, with the 2018 Indicative Land Release Program for Molonglo Valley proposing the construction of up to 60 houses on the Coombs Peninsula. This is despite the ACAT agreement that proposed development on the Coombs Peninsula would only be considered once a Management Plan was in place. The Conservation Council’s response to the Draft Plan highlighted the risks the proposed plan had to Pink-Tailed Worm Lizard habitat, with the reserve boundary being merely a metre away from the species’ habitat.

The Conservation Council was also concerned that the Draft Plan meant the northern tip of the Coombs Peninsula would constitute a bushfire buffer zone. This would not only overlap with Pink-Tailed Worm Lizard habitat, but would also provide inadequate fire protection for any future housing on the Coombs Peninsula. In their submission to provide input to the Draft Management Plan, the Conservation Council stressed how the bushfire protection zone overlapping with Pink-Tailed Worm Lizard habitat went against the Molonglo Valley Plan for Matters of National Environmental Significance and the Ecological Management Guidelines for the Molonglo River. The Conservation Council thus recommended that the bushfire protection zones for the Coombs Peninsula be outside the boundary of the Reserve, which would necessarily involve limiting the extent of the development proposal for the Peninsula. The Council also argued that residents of Coombs already have insufficient access to urban open spaces, and that the proposed development would further limit opportunities to provide recreational amenities to local residents. 

The Conservation Council’s submission to the Draft Plan also highlighted their concerns around development already beginning to occur at Coombs Peninsula. In particular, the Council noted that infrastructure projects such as walking tracks and lookouts were being built, urban planning decisions regarding Coombs Peninsula were being made, and construction was already beginning to occur. According to the agreement the Council had made through ACAT, none of these activities should have been occurring, given no development on Coombs Peninsula could go ahead until the final Management Plan was released. Furthermore, the Management Plan, which as a legislative requirement should have been released in 2014, was by this point four years overdue and not set to release for another year.

In 2019, despite an ACT Legislative Council motion against it, the ACT government went ahead with a land release on Coombs Peninsula. This seemed to have set the future of Coombs Peninsula as an area of future urban housing in stone. Yet, in May of this year, a resolution passed by the ACT Legislative Council rezoned Coombs Peninsula from an area of future urban development to a ‘special purpose reserve’, which would guarantee the protection of the area from development proposals. 

This change to the Territory Plan has just finished consultation, and we are expecting a positive outcome from this review. Special purpose reserve status would ensure Pink-Tailed Worm Lizard habitat is sat well within the boundaries of the Molonglo Valley Reserve, and ensure adequate bushfire protection for the existing suburb of Coombs. While we wait for the final outcome of this amendment, this process shows how the success of The Conservation Council, as we have remained dedicated to ensuring the ACT Government uphold their duty to protect Matters of National Environmental Significance in Coombs Peninsula and ensuring the Management Plans relevant to the area are adhered to. This is a huge win for the Council and our community, one that we should absolutely be celebrating!