Barking owl affected by bushland clearing

Tonight the barking owl was just over my back fence. I hear it calling most nights, mostly from just south of Ryan's Rd.

But tonight he was close, calling from a big tree in the Umina Campus grounds.

That's where I first saw this large bird which is vulnerable to extinction. They need a territory of between 20 and 300 hectares to survive.

The barking owl is one of the species that would be affected by the proposed clearing of rare bushland on the Catholic land in Hillview St, removing habitat where it finds food.

The grey-headed flying fox is another species vulnerable to extinction that will lose food sources if this land is cleared. They've been there in great numbers this year, feeding on the nectar on the flowering trees.

Our unique bushland is also under threat from the proposed development on this site on the corner of Veron Rd and Hillview St in Woy Woy.

The DA documents acknowledge that the site is covered by an Endangered Ecological Community (EEC) of Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland (UCSW).

At the time the previous DA was submitted, the coverage of this site by this EEC had not been acknowledged by the developer.

The Land and Environment Court rejected this previous application on the grounds that the destruction of half a hectare of UCSW on a 1.6 hectare site was significant. The LEC judgement can be read in full on their website.

The current DA should also be rejected on the same basis, as it would still require the destruction of half a hectare of UCSW on a 1.6hectare site to build these prestigious, luxury apartments.

Further, the current DA is being rationalised as preferable to the neglect that the current landowner has allowed. However, there are many other ways to manage the site without destroying almost half its rare bushland.

Last year evidence was given to the Land and Environment Court of the names of residents who are trained in bush regeneration methods and who are prepared to look after this bushland, eg remove weeds.

Additionally, I reject the suggestion that this rare bush has to be destroyed so wealthy retirees have somewhere to live. There are plenty of other up-market retirement villages for them to choose on the Central Coast.

We already have a lack of open space on the Peninsula, and Council's recent approval of the Peninsula Urban Directions Strategy (PUDS) means there will be even more people packed in to a finite urban area.

I encourage others to write submissions to Council to oppose this development so this rare bushland can survive, and to urge our Councillors to vote against it.

Grounds for objection are that the site is unsuitable for development, flora will be threatened with extinction by this development, and so this development is not in the public interest.

The documents and maps are still on display at Woy Woy Library, and submissions close on Friday June 16.

Shirley Hotchkiss Umina