Insight CEO Peter Rosengren rejected the suggestion his company should have
checked the protected species register before subdividing.
"It's not a search normally undertaken by anyone when they're purchasing
land," he said.
"For the department to suggest that we ought to have told these people
something that we didn't know ourselves is outrageous."
Totally incorrect, they will get nailed hopefully.
I was actually contacted by one of the people that had bought a parcel of
land. All I could do was recommend contacting a lawyer. On ANY
reconfiguration of lot, the onus is on the proponent to make a referral to
the DEH. It would have cost the developer a few thousand dollars to get a
desktop constraints analysis on the site before even considering an
application to subdivide. The couple of searches required to find the
information for yourself are totally free.
The company is unable to sell the development's remaining eight lots worth
more than $3 million.
A few thousand dollars isn't much really when you look at it.
Regards, Simon Muirhead BEnvSc MEIANZ
( Phone 0401 576 245
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
View my Work at Red Bubble <http://www.redbubble.com/people/gcfanta>
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Peter Shute
Sent: Friday, October 31, 2008 11:10 AM
To: 'Scot Mcphee'; Baus Aus
Subject: Bird stops development
wrote on Friday, 31 October 2008 11:48 AM:
> John McLaren wrote:
>> Gavin ,
>> The bird in question was the Black-throated finch , and the blocks
>> of land were in a " bush block " subdivision done in Townsville ,
>> Q'land . The subdivision appeared slightly dodgy , and the
>> developer possibly knew it was a recognised finch habitat .
>> Cheers John ,
>
> Surely the subdivision had to be approved by the council or
> something though, right? And can't the QLD Government
> intervene through the land titles office? Government is as
> thick as two short planks and completely uncoordinated.
Here's an article about it:
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2008/10/21/17765_news.html
Townsville finch estate land probe
CHRIS QUAGLIATA
October 21st, 2008
THE Federal Government has revealed it is investigating the developers of an
Oak Valley estate for a potential breach of the Environmental Protection
Act.
Residents have been banned from building on their land in the rural
Townsville suburb since February when the Department of Environment ordered
an assessment of the threat to the rare black-throated finch.
The finch is listed as an endangered species and has been given a 75ha
reserve in Oak Valley,
home to the last stable population of the sub-species.
Brisbane-based developers Insight Group have sold eight of 16 lots, from 8ha
to 29ha, in the area since buying land in October 2005.
A department spokeswoman said Insight was being investigated for potential
breaches of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act
1999.
"Under the EPBC Act there is an onus on proponents such as developers to
consider whether subdivisions are likely to have a significant impact on
matters of national environmental significance," she said.
"If a significant impact is likely they must refer the action for approval.
"It will be alleged that this did not occur in this instance and the company
has sold the subdivided land without the proper approvals in place."
The spokeswoman said the finch was first listed under the Act in 2000.
Insight CEO Peter Rosengren rejected the suggestion his company should have
checked the protected species register before subdividing.
"It's not a search normally undertaken by anyone when they're purchasing
land," he said.
"For the department to suggest that we ought to have told these people
something that we didn't know ourselves is outrageous."
Two families who bought land have spoken out about the financial strife the
situation has caused them.
Jason Dixon and Claire Spiller bought an 8ha lot late last year and fear
they will have to file for bankruptcy if the issue is not resolved soon.
Nigel and Janelle Benton have been living in a shed they built on their land
before the order to cease any further development.
Mr Rosengren said he understood their position but it was up to any
purchasers to check the land they were buying.
"If they had done the search they would have found it was listed and would
have found the consequences that flow from that," he said.
"We're caught in exactly the same position as each of these purchasers. When
we bought the land we had no idea."
The company is unable to sell the development's remaining eight lots worth
more than $3 million.
Mr Rosengren said he believed an outcome would be reached `in the coming
months', allowing landowners to build with some conditions.
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