An area of heritage-listed bushland that formed part of the environmental offset for the western Sydney airport has been bulldozed for a car park at a new defence facility.
The clearing was revealed in an independent audit of the federal governments progress in delivering the offsets required to compensate for the destruction of endangered habitat for the new travel hub in Badgerys Creek.
About 900ha bushland at a defense site in Orchard Hills, which is the main offset to the clearing of the critically endangered Cumberland plain forest, was used.
Defence Establishment Orchard Hills is a training and storage facility for explosives. It is listed on the commonwealth heritage registry because it is almost completely covered with endangered woodlands.
Officials from the federal environment department had already questioned whether habitat destruction could be offset with heritage-listed land that the government already owned. Now, the most recent offset delivery report produced for the federal infrastructure department reveals a small section of the heritage bushland was cleared for a car park for a new naval guided weapons facility at the Orchard Hills site.
Conservationists raised concerns about the clearing. The Australian Conservation Foundation described it as another disturbing example of the fundamental flaws in the Australian environment law.
According to Sophie Power (ACF’s national biodiversity adviser), the offset system facilitates the continuous decline of areas of ecologically significant importance.
For an offset to be credible, it must provide real, additional, permanent restoration and protection.
Independent reviewer, who audited Orchard Hills’ offset, identified the clearing.
The infrastructure department must submit an annual report on progress in delivering the environmental offsettings under the development conditions. The 2020 review was published only recently, so the reports are years behind.
An appendix to the independent review notes that an inspection of the site revealed a recently cleared construction compound, and temporary development within bushland, which had been mapped as Cumberland plain woodland in poor condition.
The reviewer stated that the area must be removed from the offset as it is unlikely to recover without significant restoration efforts.
The reviewer recommended that an investigation be conducted into how development occurred within the offset to prevent it from happening again.
Lisa Harrold is president of Mulgoa Valley Landcare and was also a member of an expert team that advised the infrastructure department as it prepared the offset plan.
Harrold has spoken out about her disappointment at Orchard Hills being used as the main offset, despite the fact that it was already on both the heritage register and had been promised by both major political parties as a permanent conservation area.
Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning.
She said that they have shown complete disregard for the entire offset process.
Community members like me who go through reports to find that they have cleared a portion of the offset would not be able to sue.
The result is that one government department tells another, “We messed up.”
The defence department did no respond to questions regarding the development or whether they sought environmental approval to clear within a heritage area. Guardian Australia asked the environment department questions. It replied that it was making preliminary inquiries in accordance to our published compliance policies.
A spokesperson for the infrastructure department stated that the construction inspected by an independent auditor was located near the offset site preliminary boundary.
They said that they were aware that the boundary was subject to change once it was known the final footprint for the defence facility. They also noted that subsequent changes to this boundary have increased the offset’s size.
A spokesperson stated that the department had strong monitoring systems in place for airport offsets and was currently working on the next annual report.
Tim Beshara is the Wilderness Society’s manager for policy and strategy. He said that the story about the Cumberland plain forests falling to the brink was a farce. This highlighted the many failures in Australia’s environmental laws.
He stated that the Orchard Hills bushland was the best example of the woodland and that it was listed on the heritage register meant that governments were required to manage and protect it.
He said that while it was supposedly protected to offset other destruction, no one seems to be checking when the bulldozers arrive.
There isnt a single obligation to protect the Cumberland Plain that the commonwealth havent dodged or failed and yet no one seems to be accountable.