Wilderness Society Helps Community Group Save Urban Bushland in the Gong

	Noel Ryan and and activists at Puckeys Estate, Wollongong, NSW

The Wilderness Society assists a local Wollongong community groups to oppose significant degradation of Puckeys Estate, a much loved urban bushland. The result is that Sydney Water management has stopped work as a result of intervention by HOPE, Hand Off Puckies Estate. Sydney Water has entered consultation process with HOPE and Council about regeneration of the area. Despite Wollongong Council condemning the damage to Puckeys Estate, Sydney Water still plans to route the rest of the pipeline through the reserve. The claim by a public authority to be able to alter approvals at its own discretion exposes a huge loophole in NSW planning system.

"I got to the meeting with Sydney Water on time only to find that just 15 minutes earlier the Sydney Water contractor had cleared a 4 metre by 100 metre strip of mature forest along the cycle way. It was another very deep cut, in the death by a thousand cuts, of an ecologically significant area of urban bushland"

Before Christmas drivers along Squires Way in North Wollongong noticed sections of huge pipes being piled up in Puckeys Estate an ecologically significant remnant of urban bushland. The Wilderness Society Office in Wollongong started to get calls from people who were worried about where the pipeline was going. Pretty soon earthmoving equipment appeared and began to dig a trench along the cycleway next to the reserve. People started calling the Wollongong City Council staff and were told that Sydney Water was a public authority and so Council did not have any say in the pipeline project. People who rang Sydney Water were told that the council was responsible for Puckeys Estate, very suspicious!

Talking to workers on the site I was told that the pipeline was to go through Puckeys Estate. A meeting was organised with the Sydney Water Environment Officer at the site. I got to the meeting with Sydney Water on time only to find that just 15 minutes earlier the Sydney Water contractor had cleared a 4 metre by 100 metre strip of mature forest along the cycle way. It was another very deep cut, in the death by a thousand cuts, of an ecologically significant area of urban bushland.

At the meeting we found that Sydney water planned another such clearing at the Northern end of Puckeys Estate. The word went out to Wollongong activists and we soon had a community group that we called HOPE, Hands Off Puckeys Estate. The Wilderness Society offered its Wollongong Office for use by members of HOPE. HOPE immediately started to dig up more information. First they found that Sydney Water did not have approvals from the Planning Minister for their proposed route. We also found that in all of Sydney Water's consultation with the community no mention was ever made of damage to Puckeys Estate. Even the Puckeys Bushcare was not informed.

HOPE with the help of the Wilderness Society has managed to delay the start of the pipeline. Sydney Water acknowledged that it has not completed its "statutory procedures" for going through Puckeys Estate. Contrary to HOPE's legal advice, Sydney Water believes it has the power to self assess any changes it makes to Government planning approvals. That is just not good enough is the chorus we hear from the community.

Wollongong City Council has unanimously condemn Sydney Water's destruction of Puckeys Estate.

Puckeys Estate (looking south)

HOPE now has preliminary legal opinions from the Environmental Defenders Office that say that Sydney Water needs to go back to the Minister for planning to go through Puckeys Estate.

Puckeys Estate is a mosaic of swaying She Oaks, wetlands and coastal Banksias with elements of coastal rainforest. It is 10 hectares of bushland between North Wollongong beach and suburbia. A respected local bird watcher has recorded 136 species there. That is a huge variety for an urban bushland. Puckeys Estate is an annex to Wollongong Botanic Gardens and is the largest area of an Endangered Ecological Community between lake Illawarra and Port Hacking. The Endangered Ecological Community registered with National Parks has the long name of Sydney Coastal Estuary Swamp Forest Complex. Even Sydney Water's Environment Impact Statement admitted that Puckeys Estate was the only area of ecological significance along the 20 kilometre Sewerage Transfer Pipeline route. That EIS also states that the Sewerage Transfer Pipeline route would "avoid" Puckeys Estate. Obviously Sydney Waters current plans are not in line with the EIS. Sydney Water put out revised plans in its Environmentmental Management Plan Construction but even these revised plans say damage to Puckeys Estate can be avoided. However, Sydney Water claim that they did not know that Puckeys Estate was an endangered ecological community. At a Sydney Water presentation a Councilor presented Sydney water with a letter informing them of the EEC dated February 2002.

As part of its community consultation process Sydney Water had publicised the fact that it was putting a transfer pipeline through the Northern Suburbs of Wollongong. Unfortunately in six years, no-one has been able to find a single mention by Sydney Water of disturbance to Puckeys Estate.

Where to now? HOPE is consulting with Sydney Water about rehabilitation of the area it has already cleared. If Sydney Water continues to claim it does not need outside approval, HOPE would like to see this challenged in the courts. HOPE will continue to put pressure on Council, State Politicians, bureaucrats and Sydney Water to fix the damage done and maintain repaired areas for the long term. Areas outside the direct clearing should also be regenerated to make up for the fact that it will take decades to replace the mature trees cut along the pipeline route.

If you would like to help with the HOPE campaign contact Noel at the Wollongong Office at: 4225 2530 or 0429 201 563