1Significant trees are local native trees identified as significant due to the presence of habitat (e.g. a hollow), provision of food for wildlife, and / exceptional form or size. The inclusion of significant native trees was opportunistic and does not capture every significant tree within the urban landscape.
1 Avoid locating development on land identified as Category 3 on the Greenweb map.
2 Vegetation retention and rehabilitation on sites that include land identified as Category 3 must be designed to improve connectivity with existing vegetation and habitat.
3 Planting within land identified as category 3 on the Greenweb map is to consist of not less than 50% locally native species. Species are to reflect the relevant vegetation communities within the area. A mix of groundcover shrubs and trees is desirable.
4 Where the site contains high species diversity or is dominated by weeds within any stratum, a vegetation management plan may be required.
6.7 No Net Loss of Biodiversity
1 Development proposals must seek to achieve no net loss of significant vegetation or habitat. Retention of vegetation and habitat in situ remains the preferred method of biodiversity conservation. In the event that loss of vegetation is unavoidable that loss must be mitigated and/or offset.
2 Any proposed loss of vegetation in the Greenweb must be accompanied by a proposal to protect, enhance or create habitat on or off site.
3 Any application for works in the Greenweb…[see 6.7(2)]
4 No net loss of significant vegetation or habitat may be achieved by:
i) Retention and protection of existing significant vegetation and habitat, or
ii) Informal compensatory measures:
- Planting and habitat creation, especially where it improves connectivity;
- Rehabilitation of degraded areas;
- Translocation of plants and soils; and
iii) Formal offsetting measures:
- Offsetting on or off the site in accordance with Part 7A of the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (also known as Biobanking) or Council's Biodiversity Offset Policy.
5 In determining the appropriate measures a number of factors must be considered:
i) Size and condition of the vegetation or habitat;
ii) Vegetation or habitat significance, including the legislative status, and its Greenweb category;
iii) Scale and duration of the impact;
iv) Current and future landscape context;
v) Level of uncertainty; and
vi) Any other mitigation measures proposed as part of the development.
6 Any proposal involving a formal offsetting mechanism, on or off site, must be in accordance with the following principles:
i) Principle 1: Avoid, Minimise and Mitigate
Offsetting should only be considered once all efforts to avoid, minimise or offset have been exhausted.
ii) Principle 2: The Precautionary Principle
In conducting an offsetting action, the precautionary principle must be applied……
iii) Principle 3: Net Gain
Offsetting must lead to a net gain in native flora and fauna and their respective habitats and improve the condition of the environment over time.
Offset sites should be identified and selected in accordance with regional and local conservation priorities. Offset actions must aim for long-term viability.
iv) Principle 4: Avoiding the Effects of Cumulative Impacts
Offsetting must not be used as a justification for granting approval to developments, where the cumulative environmental impacts are greater than the benefit to be obtained from the offset action.
Offsetting should also consider vegetation that is not lost, but retained on site and is reasonably expected to become degraded over the course of the life of the development.
v) Principle 5: Like-for-Like Protection and management of Biodiversity values
The area protected and managed must be the same vegetation community or habitat type as the community of habitat disturbed.
vi) Principle 6: Improvement in Value of habitat
The area to be protected and managed must be of equal or greater size and biological potential than the area lost. Where the area to be protected and managed is of equal potential, a larger area of habitat will be required to ensure a net gain is achieved. The composition, structure and function of a community should be considered. Offsets can be calculated using Biobanking or Council's Biobanking Offset Policy.
vii) Principle 7: Enforceability
Formal offsets must be enforceable, secure and permanent. Techniques include:
- Purchase and dedication of land for conservation, or,
- Conservation agreement or covenant over the area to be protected and managed, or,
- Financial contribution to a land manager such as Council or national Parks and Wildlife Service for the restoration and ongoing management of land which is not currently actively managed.
viii) Principle 8: Supplement existing protection and management
Formal offsets must be supplementary to existing protection and conservation management.
ix) Principle 9: Measurable Targets, Monitoring and Reporting
Monitoring and reporting of formal offsets is required to ensure that the actions have been carried out, and are leading to positive biodiversity outcomes.
- Part 6 Volume B - 6R.2 summarises the methodology for conservation significance assessment. Relevantly, Category 3 sites are considered to be of value for native invertebrates, birds, habitat for pollinators and maintenance of good quality and quantity of gene flow among fragments. Mention is made in Part 6.22 of 5 ha being the lower limit for applying Biobanking methodology.
- At the time of the hearing, Ku-ring-gai Council did not have a Biodiversity Offset Policy although references are made to it in the DCP.