Ku-ring-gai’s Urban Forest Strategy needs stronger action

The Ku-ring-gai Draft Urban Forest Strategy lacks support for improving Biodiversity. There is no discussion on how current forests will be protected from dieback, tree death and cumulative impacts, nothing about fines for destruction of rare forest trees, their hollows and food for bees, possums, or the powerful owl. These are all an essential and urgent part of a strategy for urban forest, especially in an environmentally sensitive area like Ku-ring-gai.

FOKE’s concerns raised in our submission were that there is inadequate recognition for the protection and replenishing of the threatened endangered ecological communities namely Blue Gum High Forest, Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest and Duffy’s Forest.

There is inadequate recognition in the strategy of the main policies driving the considerable loss of trees within Ku-ring-gai, specifically, State Government Urban Consolidation polices driving new housing development in Ku-ring-gai. The lack of adequate protection of Ku-ring-gai’s environment and Council’s own policies within Local Environmental Plans (LEPs) that allow unsustainable development within areas containing remnant threatened ecological communities.

Gardens and trees continue to be replaced with hard surfaces and concrete and this will continue unless Council challenges State government dwelling targets and mitigates the actions of the 10/50 Code in Ku-ring-gai. 

A stricter requirement for applicant’s landscape plans to make provision for locally endemic species within new developments and to ensure they are planted is required. The increased canopy target of 49% remains too low. 

Importantly, delays in forest management have critical consequences. FOKE has been calling for a recovery plan for the BGHF as an urgent issue for many years.

Crucially, there is no recommendation to support increased protection for environmentally sensitive areas and improving biodiversity as part of the Urban Forest Strategy. The plan lacks detailed steps to conserve biodiversity, such as implementing fauna management plans, state tree removal deterrents, crucial wildlife rehabilitation, hollow replenishment and a rewilding programme.

If adopted It will be the green flag for a lot of biodiversity loss and bushland alteration.

Ku-ring-gai GeoRegion Study a Major Step Forward

As highlighted previously, in 2018 FOKE initiated a project to add extra protections to, and increase awareness of, Ku-ring-gai’s natural heritage focusing originally on Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.

This has since developed into a much broader area as we have advanced the proposal of a GeoRegion with Ku-ring-gai Chase as its centre, but extending from Berowra Valley, from the Hawkesbury River to northern Lane Cove National Park, east to the coast from Barrenjoey to Dee Why. 

This large area, of approximately 44,000 ha, across northern Sydney showcases exceptional characteristics, with over 50 national and internationally significant geological environments of the Triassic sandstone landscapes of the Sydney Basin, unique and rare flora and fauna, and a density of Aboriginal sites that reflects the length of habitation in this area, with 1,424 sites currently recorded. A short video can be seen here Ku-ring-gai GeoRegion video

The proposal has been endorsed in principle by the Geological Survey of NSW and is supported by three local Councils (Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai, and Northern Beaches) and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and local MPs. ‘ Geotrails’ identifying a network of key sites are being developed with appropriate interpretation, with the first of these expected to open in early 2023.

The Ku-ring-gai GeoRegion is also referenced and recognised in the Australian Government’s THRIVE 2030 Visitor Economy Strategy as having the potential to be one of three GeoRegions to be nominated as an Aspiring UNESCO Global Geopark for Australia.

On 17th November, the GeoRegion Steering Committee presented at the Linnean Society Sydney Symposium, highlighting the outstanding Natural and Cultural History of the Ku-ring-gai GeoRegion.  A major co-authored technical study underpinned the presentations and is published in the current Linnean Society Proceedings journal.

The project Steering Committee believes that the contents of this study will form a solid basis for any proposed nomination submitted to UNESCO assessors. Here is the link to the GeoRegion Study.

It remains FOKE’s focus to ensure that our natural and cultural heritage is valued by the next generation as well as our growing number of residents. Only when areas are valued will communities fight for their conservation and protection.

North Turramurra Residents disillusioned

When council, in 2010, proposed redesigning the North Turramurra Golf Course to include soccer fields and changeroom facilities, council promised to incorporate a park with children’s playground and BBQ facilities in addition to walking tracks to adjacent bushland for the enjoyment of the wider community. The North Turramurra Recreation Area (NTRA) project was partly funded with a 3.15% surcharge on ratepayers for 6 years to deliver a multi-use facility. Although the site is the only open green space (other than a designated dog park) for the northern extremity of the peninsular, the non-sporting recreational uses have never been delivered.

In 2021, the Northern Suburbs Football Association (NSFA) lodged a Development Application to build themselves a Home of Football based at NTRA on Bobbin Head Road. The proposal consists of a 300-seat undercover grandstand, and includes an exclusive gym, physio room, player and referee change rooms, meeting room, corporate box, closed media box, café with office space and boardroom.

North Turramurra residents overwhelmingly objected to the proposal presenting written objections and petitions with over one thousand signatures. The main objections relate to the scale of the facility, intensification of use in numbers and time, its impacts on evacuation in an area designated High Bushfire Prone and the long-term occupation of a large part of the NTRA site by a single user.  Residents also raised existing issues with parking across driveways, noise and lights.

The NSFA acoustic, parking and traffic studies that concluded the new grandstand development would have no impact locally, were all based on the assumption of no change to existing player and spectator numbers. The NSFA denied intensification of use despite residents pointing out the inconsistency with a NSFA 2021-2022 application for a NSW Greater Cities & Regional Sport Facility Grant in which the NSFA stated, “proposed total visits with a grandstand and facilities would increase by 36,489 individuals to the site annually”.

Residents were ignored and the DA was approved by the Ku-ring-gai Planning Panel on recommendation of staff. The NSFA propose to fund the construction of the building, but it is unclear as to who will be responsible for its maintenance. The approval of the DA means the NSFA can now apply for a Sports Grant. Any Memorandum of Understanding between council and NSFA will be critical to financial implications on rate payers and use of the facility.

This process has broken the trust of North Turramurra Residents with council. The peninsula remains without a passive recreation area despite having contributed to its funding for years.