Perth Voice Interactive

FRIENDS of the wetlands are set to march on parliament at noon October 11 to save Perth’s remnant wetlands from development.

It’s an issue across the whole city from Bayswater to Beeliar but the rally was sparked by the housing development near the Eric Singleton bird sanctuary, which saw a big chunk of neighbouring privately-owned wetland cleared.

“We have no choice but to protest” Deborah Bowie from the No Houses in Wetlands group says. “With no provision for an adequate buffer to protect the Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary or any conditions relating to the conservation of protected fauna in two wetlands, this is a real red flag that something is seriously wrong with how our wetlands are being assessed and protected in Perth.”

The WA planning commission could have imposed a buffer between the houses and the sanctuary, but decided the existing pathway was space enough and instead took a cash payment in lieu of the owner giving up the space.

The protestors want planning minister Donna Faragher to place a planning control area over the site to halt any further damage. They then want WA environment minister Albert Jacob to reinstate a policy that would legally require those buffer zones instead of allowing them to be bought out by cash in lieu.

by DAVID BELL