UDIA warns that housing affordability pressure is coming if you don’t implement the Restart Perth and Peel Environment Plan

Although the Premiers office has the responsibility for the strategic assessment project, a spokeswoman for the state government did not give any indication as to when it would be restarted, despite the fact that the state of emergency in WA looks like it might end this year.

She said that we anticipate returning to it in the future.

Tanya Steinbeck, chief executive of UDIA WA, stated that while it was understandable that work was halted while the pandemic developed, this should not be the case.

The reality is that another crisis has occurred. We now have a dire housing shortfall with land designated for development by state government. This is being constrained by a variety of environmental considerations, she stated.

The certainty of development outcomes is rapidly declining due to the rapid decrease in environmental assessment thresholds.

Nevertheless, the fragmented assessment of individual land uses and development proposals does not provide any certainty about environmental outcomes and limits opportunities for holistic environmental management.

A strategic assessment that takes into account the larger picture and focuses on key growth areas would produce better results for the environment and provide developers with much-needed certainty.

Scientists and environmentalists continue to be concerned about the inaction of scientists and others when it comes to protecting green values of the Swan Coastal Plain. This is a globally important biodiversity hotspot.

The draft plan suggested that at least 116,000 hectares be set aside for endangered black cockatoo species, which were recently added to the federal government’s 100 priority species list.

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Baudins and the forest red-tailed Black cockatoo are among the top-20 threatened species. These were compiled by Australian Conservation Foundation to identify the species most affected by federal government clearances of habitat in the past 10 years.

The Carnabys blackcockatoo also had approximately 580 hectares of habitat that were cleared for commercial development, 637 ha for housing, and 1276 ha for transport projects.

Paddy Cullen, Save the Black Cockatoo campaign coordinator, said that if the state government decides to cut down the last Gnangara Pine plantation, which is a critical feeding ground for the bird in Perths north east, then more than 50% of the population may die.

He said that we need to act now or we will lose so many species.

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When are we going to bring it about? [strategic assessment] back.

We were in a biodiversity crises, and we are in a climate emergency. We can address both of these issues simultaneously.

The Save the Black Cockatoo campaign, a coalition of environment organizations including the WA Forest Alliance Conservation Council of WA Urban Bushland Council, The Wilderness Society, Birdlife Australia and The Conservation Council of WA recently provided a seven point emergency plan to the state government.

The campaign is focused on the reduction of Gnangara Pines, which are used as a softwood wood in the building industry over the next two-years without it being replaced with banksia woodlands.

The state government provided 12,000 more tonnes of locally-grown softwood logs in November from future allocations. This was to meet the demand for home-building materials.

The logs were sourced from the Radiata pine plantations in south-western Radiata.

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