DEAR News Of The Area,

IN NOTA letters on 10 February 2023, Barbara Davis asks the question ‘Where were Grandpa’s Scrub Activists in 2019?’

It’s a fair question Barbara and not the first time we have been asked.

The short answer is that while the patch of Scrub was flagged by at least one member of the public, and also by our Council in their response to the EIS in 2018/19, only a few locals knew it even existed.

It’s a bit hard to respond if you are not aware.

We learnt of the Patch and its significance in 2021 after further TfNSW surveys showed up endangered plants and new species at Korora which were missed in the superficial flora surveys undertaken prior to the 2019 EIS.

It was these same early 2019 EIS surveys which also happened to dismiss the Scrub, a unique 0.51 ha patch of original Remnant Lowland Rainforest, listed as critically endangered in NSW and QLD.

We therefore do not apologise for coming to the table late, but it has added a sense of urgency to our calls for some integrity in the application of environmental protections under the EPBC Act.

We applaud the early community representations made by yourself and the Community Consultative Committee on a range of other issues and trust some meaningful improvements were gained as a result.

As we have stated in previous correspondence; the lazy process which locks in a highway route before ground truthing, and then tries to make the EIS fit by offsetting anything which may have value, is bound to create bad outcomes for the environment and the community.

It is not too late to alter the route and save the Scrub, but that decision currently rests with the NSW Transport Minister Sam Farraway, who also happens to be a close colleague of our local member.

If there are any deals, they will be the ones making them.

They also need to hurry because time is running out.

Regards,
Dave WOOD,
Advocates for Grandpa’s Scrub,
Boambee East.