Chris Oldfield, Naracoorte Community News
Concerns about native vegetation and fauna if the North Parklands were developed attracted a round of applause during a recent forum.
A question and answer segment followed developer Robert Moore’s $250m proposal over 25 years to a large crowd on June 22 as previously reported by The News.
One gentleman who did not give his name said he was concerned about the “amount of enclosure of the native area” and the “native fauna we see in there scurrying around, bouncing around.”.
“Once it’s all boundaried off, closed off with your development, I’m not quite sure how they would survive,” he said.
The gentlemen referred to resort style accommodation earmarked for the parklands, and raised concerns about a development, unrelated to Mr Moore, near Adelaide that “has struggled for years”.
He also raised a section of an Adelaide development he thought Mr Moore was involved with.
“An overview of this (proposal) is the way I look at it – this is government owned land, under control of council, which has native land on it,” the gentleman said.
“It has pines that could be regenerated back to the native. There is other land around (which) could be purchased off private individuals and developed.
“Because once this land has gone and the way I see it personally, and maybe others see it the see it the same – once this land is gone and put under houses, it is gone from potential native regeneration for walking tracks and for flora and fauna, and it is gone forever.”
Two people said “here, here” and part of the crowd gave an applause.
Mr Moore described the area of the Adelaide development the gentleman was referring to as being in the northern section.
Mr Moore said the part he was tasked with in the south was “magnificent”.
“It is a testament to the fact that you can develop a residential estate within an environment like that, and not bugger it up,” Mr Moore said.
“We are keeping quite large swathes of scrubland. And yes, the pines are a big part of the plantations.
“Once again, it’s up to the town.
“If the pines are to stay and the scrub (stays) as it is, and the property is to stay, our project won’t get to stage one at all.”
The gentleman said the native animals were “going to be encapsulated”.
He asked if there were going to be tunnels under the roads, or what the plan was to make it so the flow of existing flora and fauna was maintained.
Mr Moore said it was a good question because “I understand that we are urbanising a current non-urban area and looking to include everything that we possibly can and still develop a workable solution”.
As a consequence, there were plans for separation so walking and push bike riding did not have to cross a road, with large culverts enabling continuity of walking trails and natural habitat.
“We’ve actually thought of that and it can be done very well,” Mr Moore said
“It’s not inexpensive, but it can be done.”
The question and answer segment continued, and The News will continue to report on it in coming weeks.
This article appeared in Naracoorte Community News.
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