The Bella Creek Motorsports Facility is not going to happen!!

This news came in around the middle of March but I forgot to report it. The proposed development, in the Gympie Regional Council area, would have included five motocross tracks, as well as four-wheel-drive tracks, camping, etc.

The Bella Residents Action Group made the announcement on their Facebook page.

Well...for all of you who have been waiting with bated breath and are not on a mailing list - we are now well past the period within which an appeal against the refusal of Mr Canty's DA had to have been lodged. 

A conversation with Council has confirmed that there has been NO such lodgement. The 2nd application for the Bella Creek motorsports facility is now as dead as the first. After 4 1/2 years we can finally take a deep breath and exhale. 

Thank you to all who have been following and offering support in our battle to prevent this misplaced idea from becoming a reality, you have been wonderful. After such a long time it seems hard to believe that this may finally be behind us; in light of the proponents past ability to offer up unpleasant surprises, we remain somewhat wary. We are nonetheless looking forward to drinking that champagne we've been storing. Raise a toast wherever you are and give yourselves a pat on the back, you deserve it!

The Gympie Regional Council's Planning and Development Section report on the application can be found here.  It has a number of interesting things to say, many of which are relevant to the proposal for a motocross operation at Adare in the Lockyer Valley.

Noise and Amenity

... there remains considerable doubt that the proposed development can operate without causing significant adverse noise impacts given the scale of the proposed development.
 
The development is proposed in a quiet rural area that is removed from the urban area. The application has not adequately demonstrated that noise from the development will not cause a nuisance to the immediate area. Further, it is likely that the traffic that could be generated is estimated to significantly increase when compared to the current low volumes of traffic in the locality, which will also cause adverse impacts upon the amenity and character of the area.

The locality is characterised by rural, rural residential and education uses and has a high level of amenity. Consequently, the development is likely to cause significant adverse changes to the acoustic environment of adjoining and surrounding premises and significantly impact upon the existing amenity of the locality.
 
The application was subject to a large number of objections [205] who have raised valid concerns about the proposal’s impact on the amenity of the area. ...

Concerns relate to character of the area being threatened, intrusion in lifestyle for a rural community, loss of privacy, unlawful entry onto neighbouring properties and inconsistencies with rural and rural residential land use in the area. ...

The concerns raised in the submissions are outlined in the report the majority of which raise valid planning issues. The number of and quality of the submissions, demonstrate that the development is contrary to community expectations and is not in the public interest.

Impact on Koala Population

In relation to the koala population on the Applicant's land that would be subjected to adverse impacts from the proposed activity, the Council Planning report says:

Implementation of these [proposed] measures could be conditioned on any approval. However, the protection of the environmental values on the site cannot be guaranteed in regards to maximising protection of Koala Habitat Areas and having no adverse environmental impacts.

Community Benefit and the Need for the Development

Referring to the questions of community benefit and need for the development the report says:

It is accepted that the proposed development will have some community benefit. However, the applicant has not provided any justification that there is a need for the facility, in particular at this location.

 and

The applicant has not provided supporting information from an economic expert about the level of economic need for this type of facility. However, it is accepted that there is some community benefit in providing for this type of facility. However, the planning need for the facility at this location has not been demonstrated.
 

Number of Submissions

One of the grounds on which the Gypmie Councillors refused the application was that:
 
Having regard to the number of objections and concerns expressed in the submissions received, the proposed development is contrary to community expectations and is not in the public interest.

As mentioned above, the Bella Creek proposal gave rise to 205 objecting submissions of which 57% were from the Gympie Regional Council area.  The Adare proposal has given rise to 232 objecting submissions 95% of which came from the Lockyer Valley Region.

In addition to the 205 objecting submissions, the Gympie Regional Council received 582 submissions in support of the Bella Creek proposal (85% of them from outside the Council area).  The Adare motocross proposal elicited only two (2) supporting submissions.

Gympie Regional Council's Conclusion

Having regard to the planning scheme as a whole and the level of conflict identified, there are not sufficient grounds to allow the development despite the conflict. Consequently, the development application should be refused.

Koalas in Adare and Vinegar Hill - under serious threat

Koalas are probably the most environmentally significant species that would be impacted by the establishment and operation of a motocross track on the Adare property.   Impacts will come from noise, vehicle strike and possibly vegetation clearing in Stage 2 of the development.

The database

For the last few weeks our group has been collecting incidental records of koala sightings in the area of bushland which is contiguous with the vegetation in the vicinity of the proposed Adare motocross track.

We now have 66 records of koala sightings for this area.  It may not look like 66 "pins" on the map, but that's because at this scale many pins are hidden behind others.

These sightings are all within 5km of the motocross track, and almost all are within less than 4km.  The nearest is only 950 metres from the track.

All of these sightings are in vegetation types that occur on the motocross property and within 20-70 metres of the track.  These vegetation types are classified as Bushland Koala Habitat or as Essential Habitat for koalas.

Remember, these are incidental sightings. They are not the result of targeted surveys for koalas.  They are sightings that people happened to make while they were doing other things, and which they have some record of.  People don't tend to look up in trees when they are working on their land.  Even if they do, koalas are pretty cryptically marked.  They have colours which tend to blend with the bark of trees and the dark shadows in thick foliage, and they even have lighter patches around their rear ends, so that their silhouette is broken up when seen against the sky from below.  Most people never see a koala when they are walking through the bush.

Our data collection is not yet complete.  The properties where there are no koala records are almost all ones where we haven't yet tried to collect information or where we don't have access.

The Road-kill Threat

Death by vehicle strike is among the three greatest threats to koala populations in Southeast Queensland.

Adare Road runs from the big dam just to the right of bottom centre in the map vertically (north) to the entrance to the motocross track. There are more than 30 records of koalas within 250 metres of Adare Road (four of these are of koalas crossing the road, and one is of a dead koala on the road).

Koalas are active at night, and that's when they will be crossing the road.  Imagine the number of road-killed koalas there will be if there is motocross traffic on Adare Road four to six nights per week!

Comparison Between Our Data and the Government Database

The WildNet database has been built up by the State government over a number of years. It contains records of wildlife sightings and listings of plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, freshwater fish, sharks and rays, butterflies and other priority invertebrates in Queensland.

The wildlife lists are based on collated species lists and wildlife records from Queensland Government departments and external organisations. The data sources include:

• specimen collections
• research and monitoring programs
• inventory programs including extension activities
• literature records
• wildlife permit returns
• community wildlife recording programs.

WildNet at present has 65 records of koalas within 10km of the motocross track.  In a few weeks members of our group, with the cooperation of the local community, have gathered 66 records within 5km of the track.  That's a fantastic effort.

It's not that the koalas weren't there before - just that this is a big State and there has never been sufficient resources to carry out the necessary surveys at the scale we need for dealing with local government planning applications.

Ultimately our records will go into the WildNet database and into the privately funded Koala Tracker database.

Oh no. Not another cute koala.

Today's koala sighting.

Thanks to the sharp eyes of a member of our group (thanks John), this one was spotted beside Adare Road, near the intersection with Fords Road.

This sighting highlights the danger that koalas will be in from vehicle strike if the motocross track is approved at the end of Adare Road.  This koala has only two directions in which it can go from its tree without crossing a road.  The other two directions take it across roads that currently are relatively busy, but nothing like the traffic that will exist if the motocross track is approved.

With motocross traffic along Adare Road four to six nights per week, and a predicted (by the applicant) maximum volume of 150 vehicles per hour around opening and closing times, there will be absolute slaughter of koalas.

We're not talking city run-about vehicles.  The majority of these will be utes, vans, and 4-WDs, mostly towing trailers loaded with motocross bikes.  They don't stop fast.

Just about the whole length of Adare Road has some bush one side or the other.

The amount of remaining bushland along Adare Road is a big plus for koalas.  It means there's still plenty of connection between habitat areas.  Habitat fragmentation is one of the big dangers for koala (and most wildlife) populations.

But there doesn't have to be a lot of bushland alongside the road for koalas to want to cross.  Even where there isn't thick bush, koalas will still cross the road.

A koala was found dead on the road here a year ago.

In suburban areas such as those in and around Brisbane where at-risk koala colonies are getting a lot of attention in the media, vehicle strike has overtaken disease as the leading cause of koala death.  Luckily that isn't the case in the Adare-Vinegar Hill area at present.  There a few roads compared with suburban areas, and the majority of those roads have very low volumes of traffic, and mostly local drivers who are aware of the wildlife. We need to keep it that way - not just for the koalas, but for the safety of our community members as well.

Have a look at the map above.  That stretch of Adare Road, from Redbank Creek Road to the intersection with Ranger Road (where the Adare locality name is) is a school bus route.  School buses will be coming along this route in the hour before the motocross track will open Tuesday to Friday - when motocross traffic is at its busiest.

Today's koala sighting

Before I talk about today's koala - quite a lot of people have asked me what a koala call sounds like.  Here's where you can find a typical koala call.  There's nothing that sounds like it, unless you happen to know a pig that rides a motorbike.

Just this morning (31 January 2015) the koala below was seen at Adare, less than 900m from the motocross track.  It was snoozing high in a Moreton Bay Ash, and was woken by the voices of the photographer and her friends, even though they were about 70 metres away.

Imagine the blast of sound it would have got from 40 motocross bikes charging around the track.  According to the Noise Impact Assessment contained in the application for the motocross facility, if this koala had been feeding at night on the ground at the base of the tree, it would have been subjected to 65dB of noise (louder than a suburban expressway at 90 metres).  Of course if it was feeding high in the tree where we found it, the noise would have been much greater because it would be in direct line of sight to the track, with nothing to attenuate the sound.

Today is the day of the State election in Queensland, when we are able to have a say in the kind of future we want. What say does this koala have about its future?  None.  Its future, and that of may other koalas in this part of the Lockyer, depends on whether you join us in speaking up on its behalf.

What about the koalas actually on the bush on the property where the motocross is proposed to operate? They will be exposed to much higher levels of noise.  How do we know they are there?  Well, the habitat is the same.  Have a look at the map below.

Today's koala was seen on private land, in the edge of Essential Habitat, beside a large area of Bushland Koala Habitat, (both mapped by the Queensland Government) and, as you can see from the above map, these habitats extend into and occupy most of the motocross property.

In fact, pretty much all of our koala sightings from across the Vinegar Hill / Adare area are in these two habitat zones.  Given that our sightings are only "incidental" sightings by people who were doing other things and not focussed on finding koalas, the density of koalas in these habitats can be expected to be many times greater than our observations suggest.

Koala populations in and around Brisbane are subjected to a range of pressures and threats from highly urbanised environments that make it unlikely that they will survive long term.  We have a koala population here that has a National Park as a "refuge" and, outside the National Park, shares bushland areas with relatively low densities of human population and very few busy roads.

If the motocross operation goes ahead, this koala population, on and outside the motocross property, is going to be subjected to stressfully high levels of noise which are likely to reduce their "fitness" for survival.  The nearest part of the Essential Habitat to the motocross track will be exposed to levels of noise between being exposed to an "in sink" garbage disposal one metre away and being in a very noisy restaurant.

Koalas have evolved on a specific diet of Eucalyptus leaves which have an extremely low energy content and are difficult to process and digest.  As a result, they have adapted their physiology and behaviour to minimise energy expenditure, e.g. sleeping up to 20 hours per day.

Since energy is required for basic living and koalas have limited resources of it, any unnecessary use of energy is likely to be of importance to their welfare.  The stress response is a very costly biological response in terms of energy metabolism.  It is possible that the triggering of stress responses may have a greater impact on koalas than other native species due to their reliance on a low energy diet.

In addition, there is circumstantial evidence that the level of chlamydiosis infections in koalas might increase as a result of noise stress impacts on their immune systems.

Please, let the Lockyer Valley Councillor and the general public know that this is an unacceptable impact on a koala population that does not have any way to speak for itself.

Not only is the presence of a large number of koalas an ongoing source of interest and pleasure to local people, it is a quality of the Lockyer Valley environment that we should be proud of and make widely known - not something to be destroyed for the sake of a motocross track.

Most recent Koala sighting

Time we started sharing our koala sightings with the community.  Residents in the Vinegar Hill / Adare area regularly see koalas on their properties and along the roadside.  Until now they have generally not recorded these incidental sightings, and in fact since most of us don't tend to look into the treetops when working outside, most koala presence would have gone unnoticed.

This is the most recent sighting I am aware of, seen mid-afternoon yesterday (29 January 2015) - 1.5km from the site of the motocross track.

It's a big male who brought attention to himself by calling from his perch high in an Ironbark.  Male koalas call any time, but mostly during the breeding season which lasts from September to January.  The call can be heard (by humans) for up to a kilometre.  I haven't found any information on how far away a female koala can hear a call.  The male's call advertises his presence (and location) to females in the area, and also contains information about his size.  If the female likes what she hears she will go looking for him.

Like all wildlife which uses calls as part of its relationship with others of its species, the koalas in Adare / Vinegar Hill will find their life cycles disrupted by motocross sounds.  This will be particularly the case if the track operates as planned from 4.00pm to 9.00pm Tuesday to Friday and "occasionally" to 9.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
 
Koalas are mainly nocturnal and tend to be most active around dawn and dusk. They spend around 18 to 20 hours of each day resting in order to conserve energy, due to the low-energy content of their main diet of Eucalyptus leaves. 

He won't be getting much of his daytime sleep on weekends if the motocross track is approved, and this will seriously affect his "energy budget", leading to health impacts.  These impacts will add to the stress impacts resulting from exposure to high noise levels six days per week.  It has been suggested that the stress experienced by koalas exposed to noise and disturbance leads to lowered immune system function, which in turn will exacerbate the impacts of chlamydia.  Many or most koalas in Southeast Queensland are already infected with chlamydia.

Koala records - Vinegar Hill and Adare

One of the things people realised when they started looking through the application for the motocross track at the end of Adare Road was how the "official" information on Koalas differed from their experience of Koalas on their land.

We've just received and plotted the first batches of historical records of Koalas from landowners in the area.

This is only the start, and in fact there are more records there than you can immediately see because at this scale some pins are hidden behind others.

These records are going to be entered in the official WildNET database, and will also be stored in a Google Earth database that lets us see how koala distribution coincides with landscape features such as watercourses or vegetation types.  This will allow us to make a more informed assessment of the likely Koala population on the motocross property than the applicant seems to have done.

It's not just the historical records we are looking for.  The Koala survey will be ongoing, so that as a community we can build up a good understanding of our Koala population.

Do you have any notes or photos of Koalas on your land?  We need dates and locations - if you have a photo of a koala, no matter how fuzzy or far away, the date will be in the metadata for the photo (we can help you to extract it if necessary).

If you are within about four kilometres of the motocross property we are interested in receiving your Koala records.  If you haven't already been contacted by one of the Koala team, you can get in touch with Hanneke at no.adare.mx@skymesh.com.au or leave a comment with your contact details on this blog post (all comments are moderated before showing up on the blog, so I'll make sure your contact details don't get posted publicly).