Advocates for Grandpa’s Scrub put Notice of Motion to Coffs Council Coffs Coast Coffs Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - December 2, 2022 A staghorn (Platycerium superbum) on an old blue quandong. A GROUP of Coffs Coast residents are standing up for the protection of the ‘Grandpa’s Scrub’ remnant of Lowland Rainforest at 133B Mackays Road during construction of the Coffs Harbour Bypass by presenting a Notice of Motion to City of Coffs Harbour (CoCH) on 8 December. The Motion calls for the City of Coffs Harbour to support the immediate protection of Grandpa’s Scrub. 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 It urgently requests the State and Federal Governments take all reasonable steps to protect the patch of land, including implementing priority recovery and threat abatement actions to support the protection of the Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia ecological community adopted under the EPBC Act. The Motion states that if protected, to then consider planning for maintenance, protection and the extension of Grandpa’s Scrub. It calls for prioritising the appropriate use of Council’s Environmental Levy and other relevant environmentally related programs. “It is sad that despite Council’s own submission raising the significance and value of this Remnant Lowland Rainforest patch in 2019, and months of attempting to get a sensible response from Transport for NSW, our local Council, and NSW State and Federal Ministers, that it has come to this,” Dave Wood, an advocate for the protection of Grandpa’s Scrub told News Of The Area. “We have no desire to impede the progress of the Bypass but too many of our government representatives and their agents have sat on their hands on this important local environmental, heritage and cultural issue,” he said. Accompanying the Notice of Motion is a supporting statement and documentation which outlines the location, rarity and description of the Lowland Rainforest patch. It clearly sets out how the Grandpa’s Scrub vegetation and ecology conforms with the official descriptors as per ‘Approved Conservation Advice for the Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia 2011’. It includes supporting documentation that reports on its links to Ancient Gondwana rainforests as evidenced by Patagonian fossil finds of at least one species in the patch. The official threatened status of this vegetation community as ‘Critically Endangered’, underpinned by both State and Federal legislation, is also referenced. Issues with the lack of appropriateness of the nominated Biodiversity offset property are also raised. An outline of local Gumbaynggirr Aboriginal history also puts into perspective the cultural significance of the patch to our local Indigenous community. Angus Mackay, as the owner of the land in the early 20th century, saved the patch when required to clear the land and the subsequent protection of the patch by successive generations of the Mackay family raises the issue of the heritage value which connects the unique piece of rainforest to our local pioneer history. An outline of submissions made on behalf of the patch, including CoCH’s 2019 submission, and more recent attempts by community members and Indigenous elders to negotiate with Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is also given with the motion. CoCH’s Climate Change policy is referenced as well as potential benefits to the Coffs Harbour community and current and future generations, for eco-tourism, recreation, education and training, and heritage and cultural awareness. For more information see the Change.org petition to save the site. Visit https://chng.it/XsxcrMLQ9p. By Andrea FERRARI The largest White booyong (Argyrodendron trifoliolatum) specimen is found right on the edge of the alignment and therefore its future is uncertain. The tree behind, a Blue quandong (Elaeocarpus grandis), is one of two large specimens in the patch. It is vulnerable to the opening of canopy and filling in of the main creek. The only large Giant water gum (Syzygium francisii) specimen in the patch, situated on the creek bank, is on the bypass plans to be removed. An advocate for the protection of the site, Dave Wood speaks with residents and representatives of environmental groups on-site adjacent to Grandpa’s Scrub, Mackays Road.
