Fauna fencing underway along Hogbin Drive Coffs Coast Coffs Coast - popup ad by News Of The Area - Modern Media - March 24, 2024 Rex, a young male koala rescued from the Coffs Harbour Airport runway in August 2023. He was observed for any internal injuries, tagged and released in September. FAUNA exclusion fencing along Hogbin Drive is in the process of being installed by City of Coffs Harbour (CoCH), funded through a NSW Government Koala Program grant. The funding was approved in April 2022. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au With work underway, CoCH published an update on 7 March 2024 which received negative feedback from the community, concerned that the fence design would be ineffectual. CoCH has now provided further details, explaining the fencing is a work-in-progress. “The final grant agreement for the fauna exclusion fence did not specify a distance, but the City is in the process of using the available funds to construct more than two kilometres of fencing,” a spokesperson for City of Coffs Harbour told News Of The Area. “The fence line is not in one single run and was installed in accordance with the following considerations: koala sightings including past fatalities, adjacent koala habitat, low lying wetland areas that do not support suitable trees and where the ground is too wet to support the fence posts, and existing infrastructure such as water/sewer/electricity/phone lines.” Local WIRES Koala Coordinator Zaiga Deist said the fencing was a step in the right direction. “WIRES Coffs Harbour branch welcomes the commencement of mitigation works designed to reduce the risk to koalas along Hogbin Drive, and looks forward to the completion of the fencing,” she said. “Wildlife fencing can be part of an effective road mitigation strategy, especially when linked to wildlife crossings,” Zaiga told NOTA. “A key feature of wildlife fence design is ensuring there are no gaps, as gaps can allow wildlife to get on to the road. “Effective wildlife fencing designs also require either what is known as a ‘floppy top’ or integrated metal sheeting at the top to prevent koalas being able to climb up and over. “Once the metal sheeting is installed, there’s no remaining gaps and in conjunction with the camera monitoring, WIRES hopes to see a significant reduction in the number of koalas and other wildlife injured and killed on Hogbin Drive,” she said. By Andrea FERRARI
