In a recent opinion piece, "Everyone should be heard to address housing crisis" (Herald 12/10) everyone heard from the consultant for the proposed housing development at 505 Minmi Road, Fletcher.
But, to make a proper judgement about this issue, the ones who haven't had a pecuniary interest in the plan must also be heard.
When this site was bought by the developer 20 years ago, virtually all bushland sites at Blue Gum Hills in western Newcastle, including the site in question, were in an Environmental Investigation Zone and marked to be retained as a "vegetated buffer".
However, for varying reasons, all have or are being developed, except for 505 Minmi Road, leaving this the last site zoned for environmental purposes.
As well, it is the last site entirely covered by maturing regrowth forest, the last vegetated urban buffer, the last unpolluted water catchment flowing into the state significant Hexham Wetlands and the last wildlife corridor connecting the regional park to the 65 kilometre-long regional biodiversity corridor, with the connection point being a now rare wetlands dry forest ecotone.
Weighed against all this is only 110 proposed houses.
Over the past 14 years this rezoning has been refused six times in total by the City of Newcastle, the State Planning Department and a State Planning Panel, but still the developer persists, with each proposal being worse than before.
The latest proposal is for 170 dwellings.
Developers, and others, claim we can have both houses and wildlife corridors, but the point has now been reached where the carving up of bushland into smaller and smaller pieces means the remaining token wildlife corridors now have no hope of functioning as intended.
Even the width of 505 Minmi Road is the scientific minimum required for a functioning wildlife corridor.
Every day Blackbutt Reserve becomes more isolated from Newcastle's dwindling natural environment so, in this enlightened age, we must ensure this is not repeated for the Blue Gum Hills Regional Park.
The consultant mentioned the 8000 houses being built to help address the housing crisis. But there are other looming crises that must be addressed that are likely to make this situation worse if we are not very careful.
I believe some background is needed to the consultant's assertion that 505 Minmi Road was not "earmarked" for a corridor.
The Green Corridor Coalition aim was to join all existing National Parks lands between Stockton Bight and the Watagans so, in 2003, we roughly identified a corridor joining the regional park to the now well-known "green corridor".
Newcastle council officers in 2005 then drew up this corridor, which they put on Coal & Allied Land. This land was subsequently rezoned for housing, so the shared boundary 505 Minmi Road site to the east became the "only non-residential zoned land" that connects to the regional park.
Does the developer think we would simply walk away from this very important corridor? We think not.
Another thing mentioned was the balance between housing and conservation. Anyone who cares to look at future plans will clearly see already built and planned housing would dominate western Newcastle's and Lake Macquarie's skyline. The tree-lined ridgeline on 505 Minmi Road would soften this stark urban reality.
In the late 1990s the-then state Labor government bought the extensive regional park site for $10 - yes $10 - because the landowner was allowed to waive the legal obligation to rehabilitate this former coalmine site.
The current state government can now use the money saved to buy the 505 Minmi Road corridor for a realistic price, considering this site's environmental zoning, and then in perpetuity protect this never-to-be-repeated opportunity to join two existing national parks with this presently teetering national parks corridor.
