Public comment period open as Federal department considers approval for clearing on Yakamia subdivision lot

A group continuing to advocate for the preservation of Yakamia bush land is encouraging concerned community members to have their say on the clearing of virgin bush land before a comment period closes. The Friends of Yakamia Forest Boodja hope to prevent the clearing of land to make way for a housing subdivision on a privately owned lot on the corner of Sydney Street and Target Road. An application to clear the 2.4ha lot is currently being assessed by the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water per the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The process involves a public comment period, which closes on December 15. FYFB co-ordinator Annabel Paulley urged residents to oppose the clearing. “This clearing proposal will see the wholesale destruction of about one-third of the laterite forest, including the neighbouring section of ratepayers’ forest,” she said. “Everything will be destroyed, mature trees, middle-storey and under-storey plants, and critically endangered wildlife. The lot, owned by Martin Shuttleworth, is adjacent to a City of Albany-owned lot currently reserved for the future Range Road subdivision. Last year, the city agreed that a 10m strip on the boundary of its and Mr Shuttleworth’s land could be cleared as part of a road reserve for the subdivision. The council also committed to not considering any new development on vegetated portions of the city’s lot this year until the development of the North Albany Structure Plan. Submissions can be made online through through the EPCB Act public portal.