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Toondah Harbour Proposal Fact Sheet (KAG)
TOONDAH FACT SHEET – compiled by Koala Action Group Qld Inc
THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT
A large scale residential and commercial development predominantly on reclaimed land in Moreton Bay Marine Park that will require more than half a million cubic metres of dredged spoil.
37 hectares of seagrass, 3.4 hectares of mangroves and 8.8 hectares of sand and mudflats will be dug up.
The offset payment of $4.75 million cannot possibly make up for the destruction of more than 40 hectares of Ramsar protected wetlands.
Approx. 8,000 residents (the size of a new suburb/small town) will eventually live in the 3600 units
proposed to be built in high rise building on protected wetlands in Moreton Bay marine park.
The proposal also includes large scale commercial development and a 400 berth boat marina.
The public lands of GJ Walter Park and Moreton Bay Marine Park should never have been handed over to a private entity for large scale and environmentally destructive development.
IMPACTS ON KOALAS
The proposed Koala underpass does not include any detail of fencing that will be required to funnel koalas under Middle St. The underpass will not work as fauna exclusion fencing is required to make these crossings effective, however fencing is very problematic in such built-up urban environments due to high volumes of pedestrian traffic and multiple driveways etc. Koalas will simply walk around the end of fencing or through open gates.
According to the Walker EIS, traffic travelling along Middle St is expected to increase by almost 5 times in the first 10 years of development, so potentially 10 times by the 20th year of development
(nearing completion), resulting in more than 30,000 vehicle trips per day.
No traffic mitigation measures have been suggested for other streets in or around the Toondah Precinct that are all likely to experience the same estimates of traffic increases (10 times at least).
For example, Shore St East currently has just over 300 vehicle trips per day and is likely to increase to more than 3000, as this street will feed into the proposed northern residential precinct and foreshore/lagoon pool area. Shore St East has significant koala trees on the footpath that are at risk of removal/impacts from the need to widen the road that is currently quite narrow. Furthermore, a
road is proposed to go directly through GJ Walter Park.
The Koala Action Group conducted a GPS Koala Tracking Project in 2016-2017 which showed how frequently koalas move across the landscape within and around the Toondah Harbour Precinct. It also proved that koalas regularly cross roads in and around the Toondah Harbour Precinct including Middle, Wharf, North and Shore St East.
Koala movement behaviours will be severely disrupted and impacted by the large scale proposal both
during the 20 year construction phase and with the additional 8,000 residents that will eventually live in this confined area with two streets in and out.
Walker Corp is proposing to plant 1000 koala trees in a 1 hectare area of GJ Walter Park. Considering
the number of trees already in the park, there will be not enough space to plant this number of trees
without filling in and eliminating all open space areas, such as the cricket oval and off leash dog park area.
IMPACTS ON COMMUNITY
The estimated 20 year construction time will be extremely disruptive for residents living in and around the development area and there will be negative impacts on Cleveland roads, especially on local streets with approx. 120 truck trips per day and 520 construction vehicle trips per day.
Noise from construction works will be 6 days per week and pumping of water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The digging up of acid sulphate soils in Moreton Bay marine park will omit odours that are likely to
negatively impact residents, particularly on days with onshore breezes.
Overall negative impacts on community wellbeing include noise, smells, fumes, traffic, loss of amenity and access to greenspace, including dog park for duration of construction (20 years).
There is no commitment from State Government to upgrade Redlands roads to cope with increased traffic from this massive development (the size of a suburb) being built in Cleveland.
Walker Corp’s advertising has consistently contained appealing artists impressions of the project,
whilst omitting to show the 80 or so high rise residential towers that will contain 3600 units.
Inadequacy of the PDA consultation process – 800 units was the original proposal that Redlands council consulted community on, no further consultation was undertaken by Redlands Council once
the proposal morphed by more than 4 times to 3600 units.
Secrecy has surrounded the proposal, including any details of the development agreement made between the developer, Redlands Council and the State Government.
LOSS OF RAMSAR WETLAND AND MORETON BAY MARINE PARK
Shorebirds have declined by 80%. Raby Bay Harbour was developed in 1985 and destroyed one of the largest shorebird roosting sites in Moreton Bay that was home to more than 5000 birds.
There is an assumption by Walker Corp that the decline of migratory shorebirds won’t be reversed, however if we don’t start correcting the wrongs of the past, of course that will be the case.
Ramsar listed wetlands must be ‘no-go zones’ for development which is one of the key goals for the
Ramsar Convention. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971.
A primary purpose of the Ramsar Convention is to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss
of wetlands now and in the future. Incremental loss eventually leads to unacceptable loss of
wetlands.
The proposal cannot be considered as being in the urgent national interest.
The majority of the Toondah proposal (over 40 hectares) will be built on Ramsar protected wetlands.
This proposal will challenge the Australian Government’s international obligation to Ramsar.
It appears the developer funded consultants estimate of the number of birds feeding in the Toondah Ramsar site and surrounding habitat is on the low side.
Noise, lights, human presence etc. from a 20-year construction will likely displace birds that use the
Toondah Ramsar site.
Many other endangered marine species such as Dugong and Turtles will be negatively impacted by the loss of 37 hectares of seagrass beds.
The revocation of more than 100 acres of Moreton Bay Marine Park to gift to a private entity for large scale residential and commercial development is unacceptable, how can this be allowed to happen?
If the Federal government approves this development proposal, they would be breaching the Ramsar
Convention’s general obligations and will set a dangerous precedent.
