Plaintiff v Defendant

Plaintiff v Defendant - [2021] VSC 824 - VSC 2021 case summary — Zoe

[24]

(i) has a landholding adjacent to the Alberton West State Forest;

(ii) has been involved in protecting the environment of the Jack and Albert River catchment area since moving there in 2005 with her husband, on her property, on private properties owned by the Murphy, Macdonald and Favoul families adjoining the Alberton West State Forest, and on public roadside land;

(iii) is a member of the Binginwarri Landcare sub-group;

(iv) was:

1. responsible for re-commencing the operations of the Binginwarri Landcare sub-group in 2010;

2. a JARR committee member;

3. a board member of the YYLN for seven or eight years, running its seedbank for two years;

4. a participant in the JARR erosion control project, carried out on private land belonging to the Favoul and Murphy families; and

5. a participant in the JARR roadside weeds for trees project carried out on public land;

(v) has engaged in land rehabilitation work aimed at improving the natural environment, native flora and fauna, and biodiversity of the Jack and Albert River catchment area on her and her husband's landholding and in various locations in the vicinity of the Alberton West State Forest, including land owned by other families;

(vi) between 2009 and 2015, was largely responsible for researching and producing a series of six natural history brochures aimed at educating the community about the wide range of flora and fauna that exists in the Jack and Albert River catchment area, including the Strzelecki Koala;

(vii) runs educational tours for local people, including Landcare members, covering topics such as orchids, plants, wildflowers, insects, fungi, reptiles and birds;

(viii) has run several annual Clean-Up Australia Days to remove rubbish from public spaces in the Jack and Albert River catchment area, along the Hedley Range Rd, Tap Tap Rd, and the Alberton West State Forest;

(ix) has done tree planting throughout the Jack and Albert River catchment area, on private properties from high in the Strzelecki ranges to properties on the Jack River flats, including land belonging to the Macdonald family and her own land, as well as on many roadside reserves, particularly along Nugents Rd and Hedley Range Rd, involving many thousands of plants;

(x) has grown over 10,000 trees and donated them to Landcare and nonLandcare members for the purpose of planting vegetation corridor connections to the Alberton West State Forest on private properties that did not receive funding through the JARR Project or for some other reason required extra plants to top-up their JARR allocation;

(xi) runs a plant identification and seed-collection day in the Alberton West State Forest to encourage and teach others to grow and plant trees;

(xii) helped to set up a website for the Binginwarri Landcare sub-group, including photographing all of the species in order to teach locals and others about the Jack and Albert River catchment area;

(xiii) has written many articles for the Binginwarri Landcare sub-group and other local newsletters on the natural history of the area;

(xiv) has run a Landcare sub-group for over 10 years, encouraging others to be involved in tree planting and teaching about the total catchment area from the Strzelecki Ranges to Corner Inlet;

(xv) has been involved in the initial planning of the program to re-grass the Corner Inlet shallows, which is public land;

(xvi) walks in the Alberton West State Forest on a weekly basis at least, sometimes more often, and has done so for the past 16 years;

(xvii) has hand-weeded pasture grasses out of the Alberton West State Forest for the past 10 years, trying to maintain the health of the forest; and

(xviii) has been recognised by the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority and the Trust for Nature for her contribution to the environmental outcomes achieved in the Jack and Albert River catchment area;

[27]

(vi) has engaged in land rehabilitation work aimed at improving the natural environment, native flora and fauna, and biodiversity of the Jack and Albert River catchment area in various locations in the vicinity of the Alberton West State Forest, including land owned by the Heggen, Pretty, Murphy and Favoul families;

(vii) was one of the co-ordinators of a major JARR Project in July 2012 which received funding from the Department of Sustainability and Environment's Communities for Nature Grant Round 1, and which worked across strategically identified areas on private land within the JARR area, targeting and supporting landholders to protect and enhance remnant vegetation and connect high priority core habitat areas from the Strzelecki Ranges to the Hedley Range and Alberton West State Forest. Major aims of this landscape scale project were:

1. protect, enhance and/or connect remnant vegetation in priority ecological vegetation communities, which include warm and cool temperate rainforest, lowland forest and damp forest;

2. reduce the impacts of blackberry, a weed of national significance, on biodiversity within the JARR area; and

3. protect, enhance or connect priority habitat for the Strzelecki Koala;

(viii) worked closely during her years as JARR Project Officer with the JARR Committee and Landcare members including Cathy and Leon Trembath (Madalya Landcare Group), Kaye Proudley (Binginwarri Landcare Group), Jenny Davies (Albert River Landcare Group), Marian MacDonald (Albert River Landcare Group) and Kevin Heggen (Binginwarri Landcare Group), helping to restore and enhance remnant vegetation on large tracts of their private land to connect and form bio links for endangered and threatened fauna, including the Strzelecki Koala, Lace Monitor, Greater Glider, Yellow-bellied Glider, and Powerful Owl;

(ix) completed a diploma of conservation and land management and was employed by West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority as the Landcare Project Officer for the YYLN between February 2008 and March 2016. In this capacity, has co-ordinated and delivered the following land rehabilitation projects aimed at improving the natural environment, native flora and fauna, and biodiversity of the Jack and Albert River catchment area in various locations in the vicinity of the Alberton West State Forest:

1. Communities for Nature Grant Round 1: JARR Project (2012-2016) - the Department of Sustainability and Environment - conducted as part of the four year blackberry removal project over a large number of private landholdings;

2. Action on the Ground - Gippsland Plains Soil Carbon Trials - productivity and climate change responses (2012-2015) - Australian Government's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - conducted on private land owned by J and B Nichols in East Stradbroke, E Balderstone in Darriman, and R and J Foat in Woodside;

3. Coastal Saltmarsh Protection Project (2009-2016) - this project won the Natural Environment Award at the 2014 Victorian Coastal Awards for Excellence and went on to win the Coastcare Award at the 2015 Victorian Landcare Awards. It was a finalist at the Australian Landcare Awards in 2016 - conducted on several private properties along Alberton River, including land belong to the Egan family, east of the Alberton West State Forest;

4. Gippsland Plains Drought Tolerant Pastures Demonstration (2008-2011) - conducted on 10 private landholdings across Woodside, Darriman, Giffard, Giffard West, and Stradbroke;

5. Gippsland Coastal Plains Gorse Control Program (2009-2013) - conducted along public roadsides from Binginwarri to the coast, in privately owned vacant blocks in the township of Port Albert and on some private properties;

6. JARR Salinity Remediation Project (2008) - conducted on privately owned land on the coast, possibly at Tarraville;

7. Roadside Weeds and Rabbits Program (2008-2013) - conducted along public roadsides;

8. Recycling for Recovery-Black Saturday Fires (2009-2010) - involved removal of blackberry along public roadsides;

9. JARR Blackberry Suppression/Erosion Control (2009-2013) - conducted on private landholdings owned by the Murphy, Faul, and Macaulay families; and

10. Serrated Tussock in the West Gippsland Region (2011-2013) - conducted mostly alongside public roadsides;

(x) has worked actively with HVP Plantations to retain Strzelecki Koala habitat on HVP's land by:

1. inspecting the habitat area with the HVP Stewardship Forester and working with him to compile detailed site descriptions, assessments, and maps for the proposed koala protection area - part of this project included connectivity through her own land;

2. corresponding with the HVP General Manager with a view to creating a landscape scale koala project establishing wildlife corridors and linkages with remnant vegetation on HVP land, stretching from the Strzelecki Ranges to Hedley Range and the Alberton West State Forest; and

3. organising and promoting a koala information night, with four guest speakers addressing the topic of 'The Strzelecki Koala: a unique population under threat?', held at the Alberton West recreation reserve; and

(xi) has been recognised by the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority and the Trust for Nature for her contribution to the environmental outcomes achieved in the Jack and Albert River catchment area;

[28]

(i) has a 140 acre landholding adjacent to Marion Macdonald's landholding, and approximately 800 metres from the Alberton West State Forest;

(ii) is a member of the Binginwarri Landcare sub-group;

(iii) has been a Landcare member for 36 years and was the individual Landcare award winner for 2007;

(iv) was

1. together with Leon Trembath, responsible for founding JARR in 2006 - as chair of the Albert River Landcare Group she worked with Leon Trembath, who was chair of both YYLN and the Madalya Landcare Group, to form JARR;

2. a JARR sub-committee member;

3. the holder of leadership roles with the YYLN and was for many years on its steering committee;

4. involved with Waterwatch as a monitor for over 10 years, receiving an award for conducting 76 site visits to monitor water quality in the Albert River between August 2008 and April 2021; and

5. a participant in numerous projects through JARR and the YYLN to enhance and protect remnant vegetation, manage salinity, and control erosion;

(v) has engaged in the following work aimed at improving the natural environment, native flora and fauna, and biodiversity of the Jack and Albert River catchment area, through rehabilitation and protection of native vegetation on her own property:

1. fencing off, protecting and re-creating 10 hectares of wetland habitat, with extensive revegetation; and

2. a salinity control program involving revegetation of her land with salt-tolerant species;

(vi) has engaged in the land rehabilitation work including tree planting, fencing, erection of shelters and picnic grounds, and revegetation aimed at improving the natural environment, native flora and fauna, and biodiversity of the Jack and Albert River catchment area; and

(vii) has been recognised by the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority and the Trust for Nature for her contribution to the environmental outcomes achieved in the Jack and Albert River catchment area, and by Landcare with an Individual Landcare award for her work in landscape scale restoration;

[31]

(i) has:

1. a 120 acre landholding adjacent to the eastern side of the Alberton West State Forest which includes 26 hectares of covenanted land adjoining the Alberton West State Forest through a Trust for Nature stewardship; and

2. a 900 acre landholding adjacent to the western side of the Alberton West State Forest which includes 200 hectares of covenanted land adjacent to the Alberton West State Forest through a Trust for Nature stewardship;

(ii) has been a Landcare member for 36 years and was the inaugural individual Landcare award winner, at some time before 2000;

(iii) was:

1. a YLLN Vice President and board member;

2. a former chairman and inaugural member of JARR; and

3. involved in restarting the previously inactive Binginwarri Landcare Group to include local people in land management issues and provide support to others doing so;

(iv) has engaged in land rehabilitation work aimed at improving the natural environment, native flora and fauna, and biodiversity of the Jack and Albert River catchment area;

(v) has co-ordinated fox control around Corner Inlet and tube stock planting;

(vi) has, in the context of his environmental work, helped to link natural resource agencies to help achieve better outcomes for conservation and the landholder. Encouraged the Yarram Depot of the West Gippsland Catchment Authority and the Greening Gippsland Biodiversity Project to work together, leading to over eight collective projects in the Yarram Yarram region within two years;

(vii) operates a business, Hedley Range Services, which provides pest, plant, and animal services to the Department of Sustainability and Environment, the Department of Primary Industries, Parks Victoria, Greening Australia, West Gippsland Catchment Authority, and Landcare, and has employed over 50 people to work on JARR Project programs over 20 years;

(viii) on 21 July 2021, emailed the Office of the Conservation Regulator in relation to timber harvesting operation in the Alberton West State Forest, providing information in relation to species identified there;

(ix) has run several workshops and information days on environment protection topics for the public, including events run in conjunction with Greening Australia called 'Is your bush healthy? How to tell and what you can do about it' and another, held on his land, titled 'What to do once the fence goes up', regarding fencing of existing remnant vegetation sites;

(x) was personally involved through the donation of his time and resources to the construction of the Grand Strzelecki Track, a 110 kilometre walking track through the Strzelecki Ranges; and

(xi) has been recognised by the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority and the Trust for Nature for his contribution to the environmental outcomes achieved in the Jack and Albert River catchment area.

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Cases Cited (15)