Logan and Albert Conservation Association

What is the Park Ridge Connector (PRC) and why the discord?

In summary, the PRC Motorway is a Queensland State government initiative, supported by the Logan City Council (LCC) to build a 6 lane (100 metre wide) extension to the Logan Motorway south from Wembley Road (Berrinba) to Granger Road (Park Ridge south) with future extensions planned to the area north of Camp Cable Road, Jimboomba. The primary function of this motorway is for long distance freight from the Logan Motorway through to Bromelton.

The community of concerned citizens have set up a website - including a forum if you want to discuss your concerns and issues. Go to http://www.noprc.org/ , download the flyers to share with your friends who are not online especially this one which provides a summary of issues and contact details

 Join the FACEBOOK page http://www.facebook.com/NoPRCGroup

 Logan and Albert Conservation Association Anne Page, 07 3297 0624 (AH), This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Brisbane Region Environment Council Ted Fensom, 07 3801 2097, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

This whole process is irresponsible planning - as has been shown to be the case with ENERGEX and their proposal to duplicate power lines and build towers on flood prone land. An independant report commissioned by the Minister for Energy has not supported the current ENERGEX proposal. We await the ministers decision on this project

A TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS "investigation / consultation" that fails to look at the use of public transport and cycleways for daily mobility - not just recreational riding is deficient to say the least.

There is growing awareness globally - very slowly at local levels - of the value of intact functioning healthy ecosystems - biodiversity infrastructure is a term LACA has coined. Globally nations are recognising the natural capital of the planet and universities such as Yale are delivering programs to students and others, making full content available online. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) presents the foundations of valuation of ecosystem services, dynamic interactions of people and ecosystems and their impacts on local communities, sub-national and national policy and international agreements.

The potential and almost certain loss of several local native species should the PRC project proceed has an unimaginable cost - financial and otherwise s we humans do not yet fully understand the interconnected nature of all living species. Life as we know it depends upon all the invisible micro organisms are part of life's cycle.

New partnership for wildlife carers

This koala was rescued on 5 October 2011, and taken to Daisy Hill Koala Sanctuary. He was euthanased at Moggil Hospital due to his being blind (from having had conjunctivitus and cystitis) and not having a suitable habitat to be released. He was 6 years old. Apparently if his habitat was denser he would be fine to survive as they usually rely mainly on smell and hearing (in a koala with normal sight). They do release koala's that are blind.

Image aside is one of the photos of the koala "rescued" by a local wildlife carer.

The new partnership between DERM and RSPCA ,Qld and the carer network would strengthen the overall care of wildlife in Queensland by combining resources and providing a united approach. RSPCA Qld and DERM have driven this change to improve coordination and response times, and reduce the time that animals are in distress according to Mr Bradley from RSPCA

The change to 1300 ANIMAL means the caller will speak directly to an experienced RSPCA Qld operator who will arrange an appropriate response. The partnership covered various aspects of the management and regulation of protected wildlife rescue, care and rehabilitation.

The new arrangements will be trialed for 12 months from 1 September, and DERM has contributed $60,000 to support the improved response and the RSPCA's package of improved networking, training and communication for the wildlife carer network. DERM will still be responsible for issuing wildlife rehabilitation permits.

The care and rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned wildlife is delivered through a dedicated volunteer network of licensed wildlife carers throughout Queensland. RSPC Qld currently has approximately 400 'wildlife heroes' who are available to conduct the rescue of sick, injured or orphaned animals and who support wildlife carers and that number is set to increase following a recruitment drive.

DERM ensures that wildlife care is done according to best practice and meets the expectations of the broader community through a Code of Practice for carers.

Read that code here. I have some reservations about the code. Hopefully there will be an open review after 12 month trial period.

You can see the presentation delivered to wildlife carers here.  New partnership for wildlife care information is here

The greatest threat to our local koalas in the LACK OF POLITICAL WILL TO CREATE LEGISLATION TO PROTECT THEIR HABITAT.

Record your formal objection to the Park Ridge Connector Road. The Connector Road Investigations that are currently being undertaken by Logan City Council and the Department of Main Road, are to determine if there is "a viable corridor". Many concerned citizens and local community do not believe there is a viable route because this road corridor is being proposed through existing residential and rural-residential communities and biodiverse environments that cannot be replaced.

The property with signs shown above at 292 Browns Plains Road ( 92 hectares) has great historical significance to family friends and the wider community. This property has been in family ownership since 1939 and every effort to conserve the environment has been made on this property. The family does not want to sell or develop this property wanting to preserve this for conservation purposes.

The 92 hectares [200 acres] represents an area that contains valuable remnant vegetation and biodversity that has not been surveyed since 1992 by the West Logan Environment Group. Because of its proximity to Karawatha it is logical to assume that this site will have high biodiversity values as well. The intact size of this property represents such valuable ecosystem service assets that they cannot be replaced or offset. Karawatha Forest has at least 27 frog species -  some likely to be on this bushland property as well as koalas, snakes, grey headed flying fox, owl species, gliders and other wildlife whose home range includes this area.

The property is critical in protecting the water quality of Scrubby Creek, and has critical connectivity to Berrinba Wetlands area. LACA Logan and Albert Conservation Association supports protecting with adequate buffering and connectivity of all waterways and wetlands. We do not support the degrading of waterways and water quality. Water quality is a critical issue for all rivers creeks and wetland areas in Logan - as recognized by council and community committment at the July Waterways Summit and LACAs campaign to Rebuild the Rivers.

All development and infrastructure to support an increasing population with its growing perceived need for more goods and commodities ie freight has a cost. This cost is not only the dollars needed to build these structures but also a cost to community wellbeing. We NEED CLEAN AIR CLEAN WATER and FOOD in that order so remain alive. We DO NOT NEED roads for freight.

Globally Australia in being watched to see the results and outcomes of the recent report by the Australian Parliamentary inquiry into the status of the iconic animal's population. This report acknowledges that the koala is under serious threat - our iconic animal's population is diminishing in some areas.

Following a lengthy investigation, the official report released a few days ago paints a bleak picture, indicating that koala numbers are in free fall, with few exceptions. "Declines of 80 per cent in some areas and even localised extinctions in other areas have been documented."

The report listed 19 recommendations to halt the decline. A very significant one within Logan - Scenic Rim area is koala-unfriendly roads. Although state roads in some other areas have made provisions for safer wildlife movement, this is not so with Main Roads Nerang who have road design responsibility in Logan. LACA Logan and Albert Conservation Association has been in dialogue with this team since the upgrade to Mt Lindesay Highway began with the service roads from Park Ridge to Norris Creek and the current roadworks for the overpass at Crowson Lane.

LACA has not been impressed with the lack of adequate fauna infrastructure provided to date - despite our ongoing lobbying. A mandatory retrofitting process would be beneficial. What is the pupose of a koala crossing sign in a 8- to 100 kph speed zone. SLOWING DOWN is also critical and is recommended in the report. All documents relaing to the inquiry are available here.

As a local conservation group in a local government area being pressed by state government and its agent ULDA to accommodate 200,000 plus people in the next few decades the importance of federally endangered status for the koala is critical. South East Queensland is largely unmapped for koalas and habitat is disappearing overnight - witness the $50 million monstrosity on Mt Lindesay Highway. At least 3 koalas were seen during the clearing phase and frequent road crossings by koalas have been reported in the area.

If you are concerned about the welfare of our koalas now is not the time to sit back. All the seats were taken in every public hearing and more than 70 of the 101 submissions were from community-based koala conservation groups - but our work is not yet done.

How would it look if our iconic koala became extinct?

There are preventable causes of death as Dr Jon Hangar says in his submission 

a. Death or injury during vegetation clearing (this is a significant cause of loss of koalas)

b. Death on roads and rail;

c. Death or injury by domestic dogs

The flying fox is at the forefront of many newspaper stories since the 2011 outbreak of Hendra. All horses that are tested positive are euthanized if they do not die of virus first. This is because of difficulty of keeping the large animal within required biosecurity framework.

While it is a tragedy to lose any human life ,4 of 7 people exposed to Hendra have died - all men, it is understood that Hendra cannot be transmitted directly from the bat to a human - the horse is needed as an intermediary for the human to contract the virus. Why are communities more upset about this possibilty than deaths on roads, death from air pollution, deaths from accidents in hospitals, deaths from coal mining accidents to name just some of many.

Do we assume that when humans cause death from accidents it is an unavoidable part of living in our society? We can contract may illnesses directly from animals such as cats, dogs, cows, pigs and more. These are called zoonoses. Zoonotic diseases can spread through a variety of means such as working closely with livestock, household pets, exhibited animals or wildlife, by coming in contact with soil or water contaminated by animals.

Practising good personal hygiene, wearing protective clothing, maintaining healthy animals and undertaking vaccination where appropriate, can minimise the risk of some animal-borne diseases infecting people.

DPI have information about protection of horses on their website here.

Flying foxes often visit properties where native eucalypts, bottlebrushes, lilly-pillies, figs and melaleucas are flowering. Blossoms are their primary source of food. They will also feed on palm seeds and exotic fruits when native food is less abundant.

Horse owners should follow these steps to reduce the risk of their horses becoming infected with Hendra virus:

• Place horse feed and water containers under cover if possible.
• Do not place horse feed and water containers under trees, particularly if flying foxes are attracted to those trees.
• Do not use feed that might be attractive to flying foxes if they are known to be in the area. Fruit and vegetables (e.g. apples, carrots) or anything sweet (e.g. molasses) may attract flying foxes.
• Remove horses from paddocks where flowering/fruiting trees are attracting flying foxes, and return horses only after the trees have stopped flowering/fruiting and the flying foxes have left.
• If removal of horses from paddocks is not possible, restrict their access to the areas where the flying foxes are active and for the period of time they are present (e.g. under trees while flowers and fruit are present).

Australian Bat Lyssavirus is caused by a bite or scratch from an infected bat. Carers pay over $200 of their own money to be vaccinated so they can care for injured / orphaned bats.

 IT IS ESSENTIAL YOU DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CATCH OR MOVE FLYING FOXES / BATS UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN VACCINATED.

You can read more about Zoonotic diseases at DPI website here.

A 300,000-strong bat colony is set to be "moved on” from Gayndah in the next five weeks – but where it will go, nobody knows. North Burnett Regional Council workers will start cutting branches from the trees where the animals roost in about five weeks time. It is a move that will pave the way for future flying fox colony relocations, with the Department of Environment and Resources pouring $40,000 into monitoring the impacts of dispersing the animals and the risk of spreading hendra virus. "We have to wait about five weeks until the little bats are able to fly before we move them on,” Mayor Joy Jensen said. "Where are these bats going to go? No one knows. But the permit has been granted for the full township of Gayndah so at least we know we can work on them until they leave.” Ms Jensen said residents were sick and tired of the bats, which not only posed a health risk but had caused "immeasurable” damage to the town’s riverbank since they arrived in September last year. A number of businesses had also been hit hard by the "smelly” and "noisy” colony, particularly the ones located along the river. "There has been no explanation as to why they’re in such large numbers. It’s an unbelievable sight to see that many bats hanging in so few trees,” Ms Jensen said. Anyone who couldn’t understand why residents were so distressed should come and have a look for themselves, Ms Jensen said. "It hasn’t been a pleasant situation and it’s driven a lot of people to say and threaten to do a lot of things they wouldn’t consider under normal circumstances. "Residents feel the bats were given priority over them.” *Fraser Coast Chronicle

Scenic Rim Regional Council has been surpised by the huge number of objections against the proposed Kerry and Christmas Creek Quarry. Council has now received  over 800 submissions. The ERA application is for a quarry to operate in the quiet rural area on Erin View and Glandore Roads. The notification period finished on 29 July, 2011.

Some glitches in data entry of submissions on SRRC website has to date not given an accurate picture of submissions received.

Concerned residents have had public meetings and arranged for volunteers to collected submissions from all over the region. Objections have been received from tourists visiting the region who are concerned that a quarry would reduce the tourism, impact the environment while causing chaos on the already choked road system.

The Quarry Action Group (QAG) believes that approval of a quarry in this area will cost jobs in the legitimate rural areas of farming, cropping, grazing and tourism. They suggest that there is little or no economic benefit in approving this type of industrial development in this rural zone. The group suggests that the impacts on the rural roads is more than the ratepayers of the region could afford to maintain. They go on to point out that there are alternative sites in the State Development Area (SDA) that would be much more suitable and would be supported by infrastructure such as good quality roads and reticulated water. They also point out that environmental and health impacts - including vegetation clearing, dust, noise, operational times (24/7) air quality, water quality, pollution, safety of school children, etc-  have not yet been fully studied or suggested mitigation included under the application.

Concerned residents are asked to continue to contact their local Councillors as well as State and Federal members to voice concerns over the quarry. Submissions may have closed but we all have a right to have our politically elected representatives hear our concerns.

The Quarry Action Group (QAG) will be actively involved to help residents and tourism visitors communicate their concerns that their values and appreciation for the amenity offered by the natural environment will be destroyed by the proposed industrialized quarrying activities of Kerry Quarry. QAG will continue to lobby at all levels to protect the natural assets of the area.  A Tourism Taskforce has recently been established for Scenic Rim.

What impact wil the blasting have on the horse races? With $7 million to revamp the racetrack from federal money the sport / business of racing will undoubtedly be impacted by 24/7 operations.