Month: February 2019

Kangaroos at Baldivis Estate Media Statement Update

The State Government is being urged to jointly fund a new kangaroo relocation program after it made a decision earlier today to revoke a two-year approval process relating to the Fauna Management Plan (FMP) for a new housing development on private farmland in Baldivis.

Earlier this afternoon, Spatial Property Group agreed to renegotiate the terms of its FMP, which the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) approved in October 2018 after two years of collaboration between the department, City of Rockingham and independent kangaroo expert Dr Graham Thompson.

The FMP included scientifically verified plans to cull kangaroos at its Paramount Estate.

The decision came after a meeting with Member for Baldivis The Hon. Reece Whitby, City of Rockingham, Mayor Barry Sammels, senior representatives of DBCA, and Spatial Property Group.

Spatial Property Group Managing Director Bruce Young said the Company has always been and remains committed to working closely with government to identify appropriate flora and fauna solutions.

“We absolutely understand the community concerns and throughout the process we’ve been steadfast in our position on the connection Australians have with kangaroos,” Mr Young said.

“We’re happy to look at adapting the terms of the FMP, however it is frustrating that after working with the relevant departments for two years to gain approvals for this development, and investing considerable funds into that process, the decision has been changed again.

“Darting and relocating kangaroos has been scientifically verified as a high-risk and expensive operation with many unknowns in terms of the animals mid to long-term wellbeing.

“But if that is the solution that the government now deems most appropriate, we would like to gather more scientific data by monitoring the kangaroos after they have been relocated. We hope that data can then be used to inform future land development projects in WA and elsewhere.

“We have always taken a proactive approach to be responsible for managing the animals on our land and worked through two years of guidelines and liaison with the DBCA to successfully secure approval.

“Given this late change that has overridden the stipulated guidelines clearly set out for industry, we believe it’s only reasonable that the government contributes financially to the new solution.”

Kangaroos at Baldivis Estate Media Statement

Spatial Property Group (the Company; or Spatial) appreciates the matter of culling a ‘mob’ of kangaroos at its Paramount Estate in Baldivisi’s a sensitive issue for many people.

As an Australian company that’s based in Perth for many years, our people have grown up enjoying the outdoor lifestyle, from swimming at the beach in summer, to bushwalking and exploring many of our wonderful natural landscapes.

We absolutely understand the importance the kangaroo has in our culture and its proud heritage that is unique only to Australia.

Therefore this is not a statement to convince people against changing their beliefs, rather it’s structured to help educate people about the thorough process and work that have been undertaken to reach this environmental decision.

Timeline of key facts and milestones

1. In 2010 Spatial Property Group was appointed to manage the development of approximately 90ha of land in Baldivis about 40km south of Perth CBD

2. The land was historically a family farm that has reared a variety of animals from pigs, to chickens, cattle and even ostriches – it has always been privately owned

3. As part of the development process, a Fauna Management Plan (FMP) was required to ensure the integrity of the fauna would be reasonably maintained during construction

4. Since the project commenced a mob of approximately 100 kangaroos have moved to site due to development of the surrounding land as they were pushed off those properties

5. The FMP included a component to manage the kangaroos on site that they either be moved on or removed entirely to ensure the safety of workers and future residents

6. In early 2017, the original FMP was successfully completed and lodged with the relevant authorities, then Department of Environment and the City of Rockingham (CoR) to commenced stage-1 development

7. In the FMP the method agreed to manage the kangaroos was to slowly clear them by pushing them to the Baldivis Tramway nature corridor adjacent to the site to use as a migration corridor

8. However, during the stage-1 development we were advised by the CoR that they were no longer happy with the approach outlined in the FMP and they would not allow this to occur for any further stages of the development

9. We believe this decision may be as a result of one of the remaining kangaroos being hit by a car on the nearby Baldivis Road and causing a motor vehicle accident– after a meeting with CoR we were asked to address the situation and complied by erecting a temporary fence

The fence has ensured the kangaroos have remained on the site

-Almost 12 months later in early 2018, we agreed to produce an updated version of the FMP and therefore commissioned the expertise of kangaroo management, Perth-based Doctor Graham Thompson of Terrestrial Ecosystems

-Doctor Thompson is considered the preeminent and best Kangaroo management person in the State, he analysed the situation and produced a new recommendation on managing the kangaroos effectively in the updated FMP

-The recommendation was conducted in direct consultation with the approving authority the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attraction(DBCA)

-Collectively, all parties agreed the most effective method would be to cull the kangaroos, as the ‘push them on’ or ‘dart and relocate’ scenarios both had several problems with conflicting territories, critical resource availability and low survival rates of the relocated animals

-The new recommendation was drafted and included in anupdated version of the FMP and was submitted and approved by the relevant authorities in October 2018

-To date the cull is yet to be carried out as the advice recommends the animals are put under duress in the hotter months of summer.

Conclusion

We understand the CoR and local community groups are seeking to have the animals relocated, however this defies independent and expert advice, in particular the detailed and rigorous process that has been adhered to and sanctioned by the government departments.

The advice received is that kangaroos that are darted, sedated and relocated, are likely to die a slow death due to starvation or to be easily predated upon by foxes, wild dogs, other kangaroo mobs, or to be killed on roads and tracks.