Pursuant to Section 93(3) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 the following draft recommendation report for the construction of two residences on Lot 7 (SP189975), Chisholm Trail, Oak Valley, Queensland (EPBC 2009/5194) is available for public comment for 10 business days from the date of publication of this report. Please send comments to: Email: epbc.referrals@environment.gov.au Fax: 02 6274 1789 Or post to: Queensland Section Approvals and Wildlife Division Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601

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ATTACHMENT A Draft Recommendation report

1. Recommendation 1.1. That the proposed construction of two residences, including pools, associated driveway

and gardens on Lot 7, Chisholm Trail in Oak Valley (EPBC 2009/5194) not be approved. 2. Material on which the decision maker’s findings will be based 2.1. A brief from the Department, including:

• Referral for the proposed action and associated attachments received by the Department on 16 November 2009;

• departmental EPBC protected matters report; • significant impact guidelines for the Black-throated Finch (southern) (Poephila

cincta cincta) (2009); • Background paper - significant impact guidelines for the endangered black-throated finch

(southern) (Poephila cincta cincta) (2009); • recovery plan for the Black-throated Finch southern subspecies (2007); • Survey and assessment undertaken by Natural Resource Assessments, an

environmental consultancy, on the Black-throated Finch at the Chisholm Trail rural residential development (Buosi 2007);

• Conics Black-throated Finch monitoring report (dry season 2009), prepared as a requirement of the Insight Shores approval (EPBC 2007/3762); and

3. Background 3.1. The person proposing to take the action (the proponent) is proposing to build two

residences on Lot 7, Chisholm Trail in Oak Valley, Queensland (see figure 1). Lot 7 is an 8.15 hectare lot on SP 189975, which is located on the western side of Chisholm Trail and is approximately 20 kilometres south of Townsville. The site of the proposed development falls within the local government jurisdiction of the Townsville City Council (TCC).

Figure 1

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3.2. The proposed development will include a 0.4 hectare building envelope in the south-

eastern section of the lot (zone A), including associated pool and gardens, and a second building envelope of 1.2 hectares in the western section of the lot (zone B), which will include a pool, gardens and a driveway.

3.3. In order to mitigate impacts of the proposed development, the proponent, has proposed

the creation of two fenced exclusion areas covering an area of approximately 3 hectares (areas X and Y identified in figure 1 above) and fencing of dogs to ensure that they don’t roam unsupervised.

3.4. On 11 January 2010 the proposed action was determined to be a controlled action due to

the potential for significant impacts on the listed endangered Black-throated Finch (southern) (Poephila cincta cincta) (BTF), including:

o Clearing or disturbance of shrubs and grasslands and nesting trees for the construction of the dwellings and associated infrastructure;

o Increased levels of human activity; o Introduction of domestic and grazing animals, and exotic plants; and o Excavation works to suit intended land use (e.g. drainage works).

3.5. Assessment by referral information was determined to be appropriate for this referral as the

number and complexity of relevant impacts on matters of national environmental significance are considered to be low and locally confined, and the Department believes it has already received the relevant information to undertake an assessment.

Previous EPBC referrals at Chisholm Trail 3.6. The Oak Valley subdivision consists of 16 lots of land that were previously used for cattle

grazing The Chisholm Trail subdivision comprising the subdivided lots at the northern end of Chisholm Trail is approximately 295 hectares in area. The subdivision was approved by the Queensland Planning and Environment Court (QPEC) through a consent order in 2005. Operational works required to complete the subdivision were finished in September 2007. TCC has imposed conditions in relation to the lots. These include a limit of one crossing of Sachs Creek per lot, no infrastructure within 50 m of Sachs creek, road networking, servicing, on site sewage disposal and groundwater supply.

3.7. Several lots have already undergone assessment and have been approved, with conditions,

under the EPBC Act. 3.8. The proponent has previously sought an approval under the EPBC Act to build a residential

dwelling on Lot 7 (EPBC 2008/4415), which was assessed and approved on 10 December 2008. The approval covered a single building envelope no larger than 1.6 hectares to be built in the northern portion of the site in accordance with annexure 1 of the approval (see figure 2). Additional conditions were placed on the approval to protect the BTF, including: • a requirement that two areas (totalling approximately 3 hectares) in the northern portion of

the lot be fenced as exclusion areas; • fencing of the building envelope to prevent dogs from roaming outside of the house yard;

and • a requirement that no more than six grazing animals to be allowed on the site at any one

time. The approval for EPBC 2008/4415 remains valid regardless of the outcome of the current assessment.

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Figure 2

4. Environmental record 4.1. The proponent has been responsible for one project that has been referred to the

Department and approved under the EPBC Act (EPBC 2008/4415). The proponent has stated that they have not been subject to any proceedings under Commonwealth, State or Territory environmental law.

5. Assessment 5.1. This assessment is limited to the impacts of the proposed action at Lot 7, Chisholm Trail

on the EPBC-listed endangered BTF. The referral process identified the presence of 11 other listed threatened species within the vicinity of Lot 7, however it is not likely that the proposed development will result in significant impacts on any other listed species as they are either unlikely to be present or unlikely to be affected by the action, due to its localised nature and scale.. There were no other matters of national environmental significance likely to be significantly impacted by the proposed development.

Black-throated Finch (southern) (Poephila cincta cincta)

Key issues: The Department believes that the proposed action will have an unacceptable impact on the Black-throated Finch due to the loss and degradation of important, high quality foraging and nesting habitat.

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5.2. The BTF is a small grain-eating bird, which is listed as endangered under the EPBC Act. The BTF occupies grassy woodland dominated by eucalyptus, paperbarks and acacias, where there is access to seeding grasses and water. The species is thought to require a mosaic of different habitat in which to forage and breed, particularly during the wet season (Buosi 2007). The BTF is known to require access to water on a daily basis and in breeding season the species typically nests in areas of suitable habitat near water (Buosi 2007). During the breeding season birds typically stay close to the nesting site and make only small daily movements between foraging sites, however during the non-breeding season these movements may increase up to three kilometres per day (cited in DEWHA 2009a: 4).

5.3. The BTF tend to form loose colonies and multiple nests may be found in a single tree

(cited in DEWHA 2009a: 5). Nests may also be built in neighbouring trees within the colony, usually less than 50 m from other nests and on occasion an outlier may be up to 250 m from the main colony (cited in DEWHA 2009a: 5). In the Townsville area breeding typically occurs during the wet season, usually between February and May (DEWHA 2009a: 4).

5.4. The BTF require access to three key resources for survival and breeding:

• water sources; • grass seeds; and • trees providing suitable nesting habitat

The presence and configuration between and within these three key resources governs the distribution of the BTF. While suitable nesting sites are likely to be relatively common in the landscape, the distribution and availability of water and foraging habitat is much more limited and will, in turn, limit the number of nesting sites available to the BTF (DEWHA 2009a: 5).

5.5. Permanent water sources are the most critical limiting resource for the species, as

individuals need to drink at least daily and numerous times per day during dry periods (DEWHA 2009a: 6). In the Townsville region, BTFs typically nest in trees located within 400 m of a water source, and rarely further than one kilometre from permanent water during the breeding season (DEWHA 2009a: 6).

5.6. The other limiting resource for the species is the presence of seeding grasses for foraging

and feeding. During the breeding season when seeding grasses are abundant, finches preferentially forage in small areas near to the nesting site, however when conditions are dry and grass seed abundance declines, individuals must forage progressively further abroad (up to three kilometres) (cited in DEWHA 2009a: 6). Larger areas are therefore required to support BTF populations through the dry season. Further, in the Townsville region there is believed to be a critical foraging resource bottleneck at the start of the wet season (November-December), when existing fallen seed germinates, but new seed has yet to be produced (cited in DEWHA 2009a: 6).

5.7. Recent research suggests that a minimum remnant habitat patch of 40-50 hectares within

500 m of a nesting colony may be required for that colony to remain viable (cited in DEWHA 2009a: 5).

Threats and recovery objectives 5.8. The Recovery Plan for the BTF states its recovery objective is to manage and protect the

BTF and its habitat, and to promote the recovery of the southern subspecies. This requires protecting and enhancing habitat where the species is known to occur.

5.9. The BTF does not occur in highly urbanised areas and it appears that habitat alterations

associated with such developments favour competitor species of the BTF (Buosi 2007: 17). BTF populations are known from areas adjacent to rural residential areas such as Oak Valley but there are very few records from within the residential framework (Buosi 2007: 17).

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5.10. The known threats to the BTF include loss, degradation and fragmentation of habitat,

grazing by domestic livestock, alteration of habitat by altered fire regimes, weed invasion, and predation by introduced predators (DEWHA 2009a: 7-9).

5.11. Land management practices may threaten the BTF by altering or reducing the availability

of food. In particular, certain grazing, land management and fire regimes are known to reduce the productivity and survival of grass species like the Cockatoo Grass (Alloteropsis semialata), which occur at the beginning of the wet season. This could have substantial impacts on the BTF by increasing the length and intensity of resource shortages at the beginning of the wet season.

5.12. The significant impact guidelines for the BTF (DEWHA 2009a: 10) state that developments

which markedly degrade the landscape value within important BTF areas may have significant impacts on the species. Actions that are likely to cause significant impacts include: • clearing of grassland and/or grassy woodland; • earthworks or excavation; • changes in intensity of the grazing regime; • construction of temporary or permanent structures for storage and accommodation; • the introduction of domestic and agricultural animals; and • substantial increases in human traffic and/or recreational activities.

Site context 5.13. Whilst the BTF was formerly distributed between the Atherton Tablelands in north

Queensland and the Northern Tableland and north-west slope regions of New South Wales, the species is estimated to have contracted by 53 to 83 per cent in the last 20 years (DEWHA 2009a: 3). The BTF is currently only known to occur around the Townsville region and at scattered sites in central-eastern Queensland (see figure 3 below) (DEWHA 2009a: 3). The decline of the BTF in the Townsville-Thuringowa region is thought to have been less severe than in other parts of its former range due to the historical preservation of habitat critical to its survival. As a result, the populations in the area are considered important for the long-term conservation of the species (Buosi 2007: 18)

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Figure 3

5.14. Oak Valley is located within the Townsville hinterland (see figure 4 below) and is an area

that contains the critical habitat confluence for the BTF of permanent water sources, grasslands and nesting trees, making it an important area for the species (DEWHA 2009a: 10, 13).

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Figure 4

5.15. Chisholm Trail at Oak Valley is known to contain a large resident BTF population

(BTF Recovery Team 2007: 5). A BTF survey of the Chisholm Trail area previously conducted by Natural Resource Assessments (NRA) in 2007 found 11 active nests, 22 probable nests and 5 possible nests in the latter part of the peak BTF breeding season (Buosi 2007: 6,8). A further BTF survey undertaken by Conics on Lots 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 18 of Chisholm Trail during the 2009 dry season found between 48 and 54 individuals, which the report states is a similar population to that identified by NRA in 2007.

5.16. Chisholm Trail is known to contain high quality foraging and nesting habitat for the BTF

due to the water resources of Sachs Creek, which drains one of the largest catchments on the eastern face of Mount Stuart, and several dams of various sizes, as well as the diverse grasslands in the area (Buosi 2007: 9-13). Lot 7 is approximately 250 metres from the creek. NRA’s 2007 survey of the area found that it is likely that Chisholm Trail contains grass species, such as Cockatoo Grass, critical for breaking the resource shortage (bottleneck) that naturally occurs at the beginning of the wet season, which allows it to accommodate a relatively large BTF population (Buosi 2007: 17). This diversity of grassland, particularly species that produce seed early in the wet season, makes Chisholm Trail a valuable site for the BTF within the Oak Valley and greater Townsville area.

5.17. Lot 7 is a key BTF nesting and foraging site at Chisholm Trail. NRA’s 2007 survey found

that Lot 7 contains a high density of BTF nests and all of the required components for the whole site to be used as BTF nesting and foraging habitat (see figure 5). The NRA survey found 2 active nests and 5 probable nests on Lot 7, which equates to approximately 10% of the active nests and 45% of the total probable BTF nests found in the area during the

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Chisholm Trail survey. The known presence of BTF nests at Lot 7 indicates that it contains the critical confluence of nearby water resources and quality foraging habitat. Although a small section (approximately 0.1 hectares) in the north-western quadrant of the lot has been previously cleared, the vast majority of the site remains uncleared grassland and grassy woodland.

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Figure 5

Lot 7

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Impacts 5.18. The referral states that the proposed development on Lot 7 includes two building

envelopes covering a total area of 1.6 hectares. The larger of the two proposed building envelopes (zone B) is located in the western section of the lot, which includes a previously cleared area of approximately 0.1 hectares. Thus the proposed development will directly impact a total of approximately 1.5 hectares of grassland and grassy woodland due to clearing, earthworks and excavation associated with the construction of housing structures, pools and gardens, as well as works associated with the driveway.

5.19. In addition to direct impact on habitat, the development of two building envelopes will

create significant edge effects on nesting and foraging habitat on Lot 7 due to a dispersal, and potential increase, of human traffic and activity within the lot. Advice provided by NRA (pers.comm) suggests that incremental loss of vegetation is likely to increase exponentially with additional building envelopes.

5.20. The referral proposes a maximum of six grazing animals to be allowed on site at any point

in time. The BTF significant impact guidelines state that stocking rates should be conservative to ensure retention of a variety of seeding grasses. Grazing animals are known to degrade foraging habitat, particularly at the beginning of the wet season, by reducing the growth of some grass species and suppressing seed production in the future (cited in DEWHA 2009a: 8).

5.21. More recent advice from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries

(QPIF) on 8 April 2009 suggests that a sustainable stocking rate should be approximately one grazing animal per six hectares of grazing land. Considering that approximately 3 hectares of land is proposed as fenced exclusion areas and a further 1.6 hectares as building envelopes, the total area available for grazing on the 8.15 hectare lot will be approximately 3.6 hectares. According to the QPIF recommended stocking rate, the maximum number of grazing animals allowable on site would be less than one. Having up to six grazing animals on Lot 7 could therefore lead to significant overgrazing, which would alter the vegetation cover of the ground, the diversity of grass species on site, the amount of seed produced and could also encourage the invasion of exotic species (DEWHA 2009a: 8). This issue was also raised during the public comment period for the referral.

5.22. The proposed action will result in the direct removal and degradation of BTF nesting and

foraging habitat resulting from the combination of: • clearing and construction of building envelopes; • dispersal and increase of human traffic; and • unsustainable grazing. Of the 8.15 hectare area of the lot, approximately 5.15 hectares, or 63% of the site, will be substantially impacted by the proposed action. The remaining 3 hectares to be protected on the site will also be subject to fragmentation and possible edge effects, which will reduce the quality of nesting and foraging habitat in these areas.

5.23. The previous approval for Lot 7, which is described under paragraph 3.8 above, was considered to have the maximum acceptable impact on the BTF considering prior advice and information. The action currently under assessment will have a greater impact on the BTF beyond that which was previously approved and in the light of new advice from QPIF regarding sustainable stocking rates the significance of the current action is substantially higher.

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5.24. The issue of reduced and degraded BTF foraging habitat is particularly pertinent considering the relatively large BTF population at Chisholm Trail and the critical resource bottleneck that the species faces early in the wet season, when seed availability is significantly reduced (DEWHA 2009a: 8). Whilst the exact area of foraging habitat required to feed a BTF population is unknown, recent research suggests that a minimum remnant habitat patch of 40-50 hectares within 500 m of a nesting colony may be required for that colony to remain viable (cited in DEWHA 2009a: 5). By reducing and/or degrading the variety of grass species available in close proximity (approximately less than 200 m) to a known breeding site, the proposed action will unacceptably impact on the BTFs ability to survive at Chisholm Trail, particularly during the early wet season.

5.25. This conclusion is supported by the significant impact guidelines for the BTF (2009a: 14),

which states that impacts on the species should be minimised by maintaining all foraging habitat within 400 m of known nesting habitat and keeping building structures at least one km from nesting trees.

5.26. The referral outlines mitigation measures to reduce impacts on the BTF. These are the

creation of two fenced exclusion areas covering an area of approximately 3 hectares and fencing dogs to ensure that they don’t roam unsupervised. Whilst these measures will partly reduce impacts on the BTF by preserving some nesting and foraging habitat, the impacts from construction works and the introduction of grazing animals on the site will nevertheless substantially degrade the value and quality of BTF habitat at Lot 7. In particular, the proposed action would impact sensitive nesting habitat through increased human activity and decrease the quantity, variety and availability of seed for the BTF, which will reduce or eliminate an important food source for the species. The Department believes that these impacts cannot be effectively mitigated. The Department also considers that given the importance of the site for the BTF an offset would be economically unfeasible.

5.27. Considering the importance of Lot 7 as a high quality foraging and nesting site for the BTF

at Chisholm Trail and the relative value of Chisholm Trail for the ongoing viability of the species within the greater Townsville area, The Department recommends that the proposed action will have an unacceptable impact on the BTF.

6. Social and economic matters 6.1. The proposed action is unlikely to have significant social or economic impacts within the

region due to its limited scale and geographically confined nature. 7. Ecologically sustainable development 7.1. The proposed decision has sought to achieve the principles of Ecologically Sustainable

Development, including the precautionary principle, in accordance with section 3A of the EPBC Act through the implementation of the proposed mitigation measures.

8. Other legal considerations 8.1. The proposed action was deemed a controlled action on 11 January 2010 for likely

significant impacts to listed threatened species and communities and it was decided that the Department has already received the relevant information to undertake an assessment.

8.2. The proposed decision meets the requirements of section 139 of the EPBC Act (decision

about threatened species and ecological communities) as it is consistent with the Biodiversity Convention or Apia Convention for which Australia is a signatory to, and the recovery plan or approved conservation advice for the threatened species of interest.

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9. Conclusion 9.1. The proposed action will impact nesting habitat and decrease the quantity, variety and

availability of seed for the EPBC-listed endangered Black-throated Finch (southern), which will reduce or eliminate an important food source for the species. Considering the importance of Lot 7 as a high quality foraging and nesting site for the BTF at Chisholm Trail and the relative value of Chisholm Trail for the ongoing viability of the species within the Townsville hinterland area, the Department believes that the proposed action will have an unacceptable impact on the BTF.

9.2. The Department recommends that the proposed action, to develop two building envelopes

on Lot 7, Chisholm Trail, Oak Valley, in Queensland, not be approved due to unacceptable impacts on the listed endangered Black Throated Finch (southern).

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Additional references Black-throated Finch Recovery Team (BTF Recovery Team) (2007). National recovery plan for the black-throated finch southern subspecies Poephila cincta cincta. Report to the Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Canberra. [Online]. Hurstville, NSW: Department of Environment and Climate Change; and Brisbane, Queensland: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Buosi, P. 2007. Survey and Assessment of the Black-throated Finch (Poephila cincta cincta) at the Chisholm Trail Rural Residential Development, Townsville. Townsville: Natural Resource Assessment. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA). 2009. Significant impact guidelines for the endangered black-throated finch (southern) (Poephila cincta cincta) - EPBC Act policy statement 3.13. [Online]. Canberra, ACT: DEWHA Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA). 2009a. Background paper - Significant impact guidelines for the endangered black-throated finch (southern) (Poephila cincta cincta) - EPBC Act policy statement 3.13. [Online]. Canberra, ACT: DEWHA.