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| REMNANT VEGETATION | REMNANT VEGETATION | REMNANT VEGETATION |
| Bushland: Description / Reserves / Plant species / Communities | Fauna | Corridors |
| *
65 listed urban bushland reserves, covering approximately 700 ha (does this
include NPWS land?) Map provided of major areas of natural vegetation. * NPWS reserves (map provided): *Royal, *Heathcote, Georges River & *Botany Bay National Parks & *Towra Pt Nature Reserve. *Indicates National Estate Listing. * Other environmentally sensitive bushland areas include Bardens Trig, Calsil Dune & land owned by Sydney Water on the Cronulla Sewage Treatment Plant. A full list of Council reserves is provided. * Plant communities occurring on nutrient-poor Hawkesbury sandstone soils include open forest, woodlands & heaths and are well represented in national parks, with small remnants also occurring at Kareela, Oyster Bay, Como, & Bonnet Bay. Shale- based Ridge-top vegetation has been largely cleared - remnants at Thorpes Forest, Menai, Royal NP & Towra Pt NR. Other communities include pockets of littoral rainforest, sand dune vegetation & estuarine wetland. * List of 28 rare or significant plant species included. |
* List provided of 51 endangered fauna species known or suspected to occur
in the LGA. * Wetland birds of the Kurnell peninsula listed - 26 species of migratory birds protected under international agreements. * No information provided on protected species other than these lists. * GIS system incorporates Australian Museum fauna database. * Platypuses reported in Royal NP, Hacking River (Grant, 1991). |
Satellite
image & map show the major bushland linkages. Very little or no information
available on the movement patterns of fauna within the shire. The following
habitats & corridors assumed to be important in long-term maintenance of
biodiversity: * bushland corridor linking Royal NP with Garrarwarra SRA & bushland in Wollongong LGA; * bushland corridor linking Royal NP, Heathcote NP, Sydney Water catchment land, the military area & bushland in the West Menai area; * Georges River NP; * Botany Bay NP; * wetland corridor incorporating Quibray Bay, Weeney Bay & Woolooware Bay; * creek line corridors throughout the urban areas. |
| Data gaps / action proposed | ||
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Rare species list incomplete * Council assisting a university student undertaking a vegetation survey of the Woronora Valley-West Menai area. |
* Endangered species list incomplete. | |
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REMNANT VEGETATION / Wetlands |
CATCHMENTS/ CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT/ STORMWATER | PROTECTIVE
MEASURES/ REGENERATION & RESTORATION WORKS |
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Largest area of natural wetlands is on the southern shores of Botany Bay.
Comprises a complex estuarine wetland system with seagrass beds, saltmarsh,
mangroves & casuarina forest. Regionally significant as the largest wetland
system in Sydney & internationally significant because of its use by
migratory waders protected under international agreements. A large portion of
these wetlands is protected within Towra Pt NR & Towra Pt Aquatic Reserve.
REP 17 requires an EIS prior to development of wetlands outside the reserve. * Other wetlands include: - Freshwater swamps (Kurnell Peninsula - Botany Bay NP). - Mangrove & saltmarsh along Georges & Woronora Rivers - within Georges River NP or zoned environmental protection 7(a) or (b). - Mangrove & saltmarsh & seagrass beds (Port Hacking). Those at South West Arm & Cabbage Tree Basin - within Royal NP. Others - environmental protection zoning. - Others conserved within Royal & Heathcote NPs, including Marley Swamp, Marley Lagoon & Jibbon Lagoons. * List provided of wetlands identified in NCC/DOP wetland inventory, 1989. * Wetlands inventory (Adam & Stricker, 1993): 46 wetlands listed. In addition to those listed above, include Bundeena Oval, Hacking River, Woronora River, Oyster Bay, Lake Toolooma, Moorebank 1 & 2, Mill Ck, Mickeys Point, near Alfords Point, Little Moon Bay, DS1, DS2, Mangrove Island, Woolaware Bay, Hooker 1, Cronulla H.S.Sw, Quibray Bay, Marton Park and Hurstville Bay, |
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Georges River CMC. * 3 rivers: Georges, Woronora & Hacking. * 34 major catchment areas (map provided). Major creeks include Ewey, Gwawley, Forbes, Loftus, Still, Mill, Bundeena, Savilles, *Tukawa, *Engadine & *Goarra Creeks, *Heathcote & *Goondera Brook, *Temptation, Tudera *Muddy & *South West Arm Creeks. * 500 major stormwater outlets. * GPTs at Menai Rd, Woronora & Burraneer Bay Rd, Caringbah. More proposed. * Rainwater tank policy to encourage recycling of stormwater for watering gardens & washing cars. * Flood management issues. * Indicates location in Royal NP. |
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Council aims to maintain its biodiversity through the establishment &
rehabilitation of bushland reserves & through public education campaigns.
* Bushland regeneration started in Kareen Park in 1979. Now achieved through the appointment of a full-time Bushcare Officer (1993) & through volunteer bush regenerators (now numbering 350) & volunteer bushland community management committees (numbering 36 - details provided in appendix). * Objectives of Bushcare Program: - Total community awareness. - Train all volunteers in regeneration techniques. - Eradication of noxious & problem weeds. - Reclaim the maximum amount of native bushland. - Educate Council's maintenance staff. - Improve stormwater quality going into urban bushland. - Document & monitor development & success of the program. |
| Data gaps /action proposed | ||
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Health of wetlands. * Periodic assessment of effectiveness of management strategies in conserving wetlands. |
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| FIRE MANAGEMENT | THREATS TO REMNANT VEGETATION /FAUNA | URBAN DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS |
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Residential/bushland interface> 170 km. 20 suburbs (listed) have residences
adjacent to bushland with high or medium bushfire hazard. * Areas at greatest risk are those developed prior to the establishment of planning controls for bushfire prone land. On blocks without the radiation setbacks outlined in Circular No 74 Planning in Fire Prone Areas, the fuel free zone is vitally important for the protection of the dwelling. * Development consent not required for the erection of most dwellings in the shire, therefore bushfire risk assessment under EPA Act (1979) not taken into consideration. * Fuel management practices including controlled burning & manual clearing are carried out by local bushfire brigades on behalf of Council, NPWS & other major shire landholders (don't mention that NPWS carries out a lot of its own fire hazard reduction work). * Fire control officers currently formulating an integrated hazard management plan which aims to reduce risk to life & property whilst not compromising long term ecosystem viability. |
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Direct loss through urban expansion/ consolidation/ proposed developments. * Habitat & corridor fragmentation through road construction . * Piped sections of creeks create discontinuous corridors. * Exotic plant species invasion * Increased nutrients & sewage overflows from stormwater run-off. * Altered fire regimes & constructed fire trails & breaks. * Trampling of vegetation & scaring away wildlife by human & introduced animal activity. * Removal of plants, bush rock & soil. * Dumping of rubbish, waste materials & toxic substances. * Erosion & sedimentation. * Feral & domestic animals (cats, foxes, rats. mice, rabbits, dogs, horses, deer & birds). |
* Lot 113, DP 777967, North Cronulla. Proposal to re-contour &
stabilise a site of previous sand extraction to provide for residential/
commercial / recreational development. Most of the natural vegetation has been
removed. Flora & fauna impacts need to be considered. * Proposed Woronora Water Filtration Plant for land zoned Environmental Protection (Water Catchment) near Woronora Dam spillway. Potential impacts include loss of bushland & specifically, impacts on rare or endangered flora & fauna. * Considerable loss of bushland through urban expansion over the last decade with the development of Woronora Hts & the Menai district. |
| PLANNING INSTRUMENTS | PLANS OF MANAGEMENT/REFERENCES |
| (REPs, LEPs, DCPs, TPOs) | |
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Plan of Management prepared for Sutherland Shire Bushland in accordance with
SEPP 19 (1991). identifies all open space bushland in the shire & sets out
the methods by which the aims & objectives of the policy can be achieved. * TPO/Urban Tree Policy. (Council granted permission to prune or remove 1,824 trees during 1993; 21,107 indigenous plants issued to ratepayers, 35,000 trees propagated for environmental restoration purposes.) * REP 17 requires an EIS to be prepared prior to development on any listed Wetland areas on the Kurnell Peninsula - environmentally significant areas mapped. |
*
Adam P. and Stricker J. 1993. Wetlands of the Sydney Region- Final Report
(unpub). National Estate Grants Program. Project No 51. Nature Conservation
Council. * Benson D. & Howell J. 1990. Taken for Granted the bushland of Sydney & its suburbs. Kangaroo Press. Kenthurst. * Clouston Landscape Architects. 1992. Ewey Creek Plan of Management. Prepared for Sutherland Shire Council. * Department of Planning. 1989 Sydney Regional Environmental Plan No. 17 - Kurnell Peninsula. * National Parks Association. 1992. A Vision for the Future of the Remaining Natural Lands of Menai & Woronora. * Port Hacking Planning & Advisory Committee. 1993. Port Hacking Plan of Management. * State Pollution Control Commission. 1979. Water & Wading Birds of the Botany Bay Estuary. Environmental Control Study of Botany Bay. * Sutherland Shire Council. 1990. Sutherland Shire Urban Bushland Plan of Management. * Travers Morgan. 1990. The Regional Distribution of Melaleuca deanei and Five Plants occurring in West Menai and the Southern Sydney Region. |
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URL: http://homer.socialchange.net.au0/bushland/reference/ubut/SUTHERLA.html Last Modified: Thursday, 15-Mar-2001 19:17:42 EST
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