Albany residents present 1500-signature petition urging council to protect City-owned Yakamia bushland

A 1500-signature petition presented to Albany councillors on Tuesday is calling for urgent protection of “old growth forest” on a City-owned lot in Yakamia, two months after the council voted to allow a small part of the land to be used in plans for a residential subdivision. Friends of Yakamia Forest said it had gathered 1520 signatures — including 438 from Yakamia residents — requesting the City amend its Yakamia-Lange Structure Plan to safeguard “vital wildlife habitat and carbon-absorbing native vegetation”. The Yakamia-Lange Structure Plan, endorsed by the council in 2015, provides guidance to the City of Albany, WA Planning Commission and developers on “future subdivision, land use, and environmental management” in the area. The group is calling for the City to rezone “as much bushland as possible” on a 19ha City-owned lot on North Road from Future Urban Residential to Environmental Conservation Reserve to prevent development. “To preserve rare and threatened wildlife species which inhabit this area, particularly critically endangered western ring tail possums and endangered black cockatoos,” the petition said. Speaking to the Advertiser in June, City chief executive Andrew Sharpe said the structure plan had been adopted after “robust planning and associated public consultation” and “almost 59 per cent of the land is already earmarked for protection as a reserve”. Eleven ratepayers spoke during public question time to voice their support for the petition, including Diana Caley who urged councillors to protect the habitat of the western ringtail possum “as a matter of urgency”. She said the Yakamia bushland was filled with “majestic old-growth trees” and animal life which was an “ecological wonderland” enjoyed by residents. “We certainly don’t want to see it bulldozed and the wildlife killed,” she said. Yakamia resident and Menang elder Lester Coyne said any future development on the site would displace local wildlife, including kangaroos, which he had already seen driven out of other built-up areas across the City. “For every action there is a reaction,” Mr Coyne said. In June, councillors voted to support plans for 17m of the Yakamia lot to be cleared for a shared road and maintained for bushfire mitigation for a proposed residential subdivision on a privately owned adjoining lot. At the meeting, Mr Sharpe explained the council’s support did not mean any subdivision plans or land clearing would definitely go ahead as it required further State and Federal government approvals. Residents attempted to block the decision, presenting a petition signed by 130 people, urging councillors to vote against the motion and protect the bush block — and the flora and fauna within it — from future development. Tuesday’s petition called for councillors to rescind their June decision. Petitioners also called on the City to abide by its 2019 Local Planning Strategy “which places a heavy emphasis on the need for conservation of native vegetation” and its Climate Action Declaration. “To reduce carbon emissions by preserving carbon-absorbing bushland on Lot 4743 which may be able to be used to offset the City’s ongoing carbon emissions from projects such as road building,” the petition said.