One of the biggest housing developments in Tasmania for decades has achieved federal environmental approval but with a major catch — residents will need to prove their pet cats will stay on their property.
The presence of the critically-endangered forty-spotted pardalote in a neighbouring reserve meant the second and third stages of the 470-lot Huntingfield development needed to be considered by the Commonwealth.
The 68 hectares of government-owned land was rezoned using the state government's fast-tracked rezoning laws — with the largest piece of land included in the program designed to boost affordable housing.
It sits alongside the Peter Murrell Reserve which is home to white gum trees, relied upon by the forty-spotted pardalote, whose last remaining known colonies are at Tinderbox, and on Bruny and Maria Islands.
Last month, the Commonwealth handed down its decision; another patch of adjoining remnant bushland would become a covenanted reserve, and fencing would need to be built to separate the reserves from housing.
Another condition was that the general manager of Kingborough Council would need to personally approve residents' application to own a cat — and be satisfied the animal would not wander.
BirdLife Tasmania convenor Eric Woehler said it was an "unrealistic" condition.
"I just can't see that happening," he said.
"We could predict a low likelihood of compliance and enforcement by council simply because they probably don't have the resources to do so."
Despite questioning the value of the cat condition, Dr Woehler was pleased to see the federal Environment Department add more protections to the surrounding native bushland.
"As the human population increases, as the demand for housing increases, we're going to see these sorts of interactions. I don't want to call it conflict, it's not a tension, but there's certainly a balance between housing and where to put the housing," he said.
"Here, in some ways, you can think of this as a trial case where you have hundreds of titles coming into an area adjacent to remnant woodland and conservation areas."
Critically endangered bird key to bush protection
Without the presence of the forty-spotted pardalote, the conditions on the housing development would almost certainly not have been put in place.
The bird is one of Tasmania's most elusive — and most misidentified — native species.
Tiny in size, and with a hooked bill to "farm" manna from white gum, the bird is only found in small pockets of Tasmania, and its numbers could be as low as 1,000.
This is in stark contrast to the striated pardalote — a larger and significantly different species — which is common in all parts of Tasmania, as well as on the mainland.
Species expert Sally Bryant said she was pleased that another patch of remnant woodland would be protected near Peter Murrell Reserve.
"The strong conditions to protect the habitat fragment are a really positive move for the forty-spot, to protect that last remnant, to join it up to the Peter Murrell Reserve and have Parks and Wildlife manage it and protect it for nature conservation," she said.
"I would hope that building the linkage corridor might assist the pardalote to survive here and maybe disperse outwards. I really hope Parks can get financial support and staff support to manage it for nature."
Dr Bryant said ecologists would be watching to see how closely the conditions were being complied with.
"People that have been in the conservation sector for a long time know full well that once the piece of paper goes in the drawer, those conditions are rarely met," she said.
"We like to know things are improving, the restoration and rehabilitation of the woodland fragment adjoining Peter Murrell. We'll be watching, we'll be involved, we'll be recommending."
When it comes to cats, Dr Bryant said it would ultimately be up to the community to demonstrate responsible pet ownership to protect native birds and mammals in the reserves.
But she was confident the future residents of Huntingfield would develop a love of Peter Murrell Reserve.
Huntingfield part of housing shortage fix
It won't be long before construction work starts at Huntingfield. While stages two and three still need approval by Kingborough Council after passing the Commonwealth, the first stage is ready to go.
The Department of Communities will make the first 31 lots available for purchase next year, followed by progressively more land releases.
The government's fast-tracked rezoning laws caused controversy due to it skipping the council approval stage.
Housing Minister Guy Barnett said the laws remained a key part of boosting Tasmania's housing supply.
"I'm keen to get homes built faster, that's the objective of our government, we want to get them out of the ground faster," he said.
"The land supply orders are very important. They have to go through due process, so once they've gone through, they then have to go through council — development application — there needs to be infrastructure development as well, and then, of course, they need to be built."
The Department of Communities confirmed a minimum of 15 per cent of Huntingfield lots would be social housing, 35 per cent would be in the MyHome shared equity program, and the remainder sold on the private market.
Stages two and three will go to Kingborough Council mid-next year.
