[Greens-Media] (Hale MLC) Greens call on Government to buy land now to expand the Royal National Park

[Colin Hesse]

Media release
 
>From Sylvia Hale, Greens spokesperson for Planning
 
5 May 2010   - For immediate use       
            
Greens call on Government to buy land now to expand the Royal National
Park
 
The Greens spokesperson for Planning, Sylvia Hale MP, has called on the
State Government to buy a large area of privately owned bushland on the
eastern side of Helensburgh, which is now for sale. 
 
“Purchasing this 83 acre area of bushland would be a great start
toward securing the future of the Royal National Park, and particularly
the upper Hacking River catchment,” said Ms Hale.
 
“I have written to the Minister for Climate Change and the
Environment, Mr Sartor, asking him to consider acquiring this land in
the upper Hacking River catchment for inclusion in an expanded Royal
National Park.
 
“There is very strong community support for maintaining the highest
level of ecological protection for the Hacking River catchment and the
Park.  
 
“Local residents are furious that recent moves by Wollongong City
Council to change the zoning will reduce the catchment’s protection
and put the area at risk of significant land clearing.
 
“Clearing privately owned land in the area would sever the wildlife
corridor between the Royal National Park and the Illawarra escarpment
and threaten the loss of valuable plant and animal communities, which
are not adequately conserved in the Royal National Park.
 
“The National Parks and Wildlife Service has identified the
extinction of native species as being directly related to human
activity. 
 
“It is unacceptable that increased levels of development in the upper
catchment of the Hacking River, the major waterway running through the
Royal National Park, should threaten the Park, which is on the National
Heritage register because of its environmental and cultural heritage. It
is the second oldest (and some maintain it is the oldest) national park
in the world.
 
“The case for the Government to step in and buy this land is
overwhelming.
 
“Acquiring the land would send a strong signal to the hundreds of
thousands of people of the Illawarra and Sydney who use the Royal
National Park each year that the Government actually cares about the
Park and its future,” said Ms Hale.
 
 
Contact: Colin Hesse on 02 9230 3030 or 0401 719 124