MAYORAL MESSAGE Katie Milne

CALLS of koalas in distress have been heard from a private native forestry operation in Limpinwood after logging recently commenced at this 800 hectare property. The property is near the base of our World Heritage listed Mt Warning/Wollumbin National Park.

Tweed has not experienced native forest logging at this vast scale in our recent history.

Many in the community are up in arms over fears for koalas and the many other endangered species on the site after a koala was found at a neighbouring property that has not had koalas in the last 25 years. It is thought koalas may be fleeing from the logging operation.

The community is distraught by logging trucks hurtling through their narrow local roads, including during school bus hours, at blind corners, and along sections still damaged from the flood.

There are also grave fears for aboriginal cultural heritage as Council's mapping shows predictive heritage across most of the site. Members of the community attended the Council meeting last Thursday to express their concern and support for a motion I proposed requesting the State Government urgently intervene. Applause broke out in gratitude as Councillors unanimously supported the motion.

The property is centrally located between the World Heritage areas of Wollumbin National Park, and the Limpinwood and Numinbah Nature Reserves. It forms critical landscape connectivity being at a junction of key regional fauna corridors, according to Council staff.

It's hard to believe the State Government requires no on-ground environmental, cultural heritage or traffic studies for logging licences even in significant sites such as this. Unless the community raises the alarm, there are no monitoring inspections carried out either.

This forestry operation relies on the goodwill and responsible management of the operator and was not scheduled for an inspection until completion of the 15-year logging licence.

The landowner Hewittville Pty Ltd has previously undertaken extensive unauthorised works on two separate occasions, bulldozing vast areas of forest to both the northern and southern accesses of the property, and even through neighbouring properties, without consent causing serious environmental damage on both occasions.

There was so much erosion into the waterway on the first clearing occasion in 2014 that 750m of Hopping Dicks Creek was smothered including platypus holes. It still runs murky to this day after rain events and the platypus have never returned.

The company went on to bulldoze in the north in a similar fashion just before the flood this year and this is currently being investigated.

Whether we agree or not with the scale of development in our Shire at least they always require a basic level of scrutiny and management plans. Council consents for logging are now required for new licences in Tweed but it won't help this situation.

It is essential the State steps in urgently to stop this abomination. The Federal Government also needs to step in as it has the potential to have significant impact on a World Heritage site being within 7km of such a site.

* Tweed Mayor Katie Milne writes a monthly column for the Tweed Daily News.