New partnership to tackle salinity
A broad coalition of community groups will come together in early February to forge a joint position on addressing dryland salinity to take to the NSW Government's Salinity Summit in March.

The Community Salinity Summit will be held in Wagga Wagga. It is a joint effort by the NSW Farmers Association, The Nature Conservation Council of NSW, the NSW Council of Social Services and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, all of whom share an interest in ensuring concerted action on the potentially disastrous effects of salinisation.

There is now a growing understanding between groups who have rarely co-operated in the past. There has been a tendency so far for Governments to play competing interest groups off against each other. We hope this summit will help the Government to recognise the benefits of acting for the wider community.

Chairman of the NSW Farmers’ Association Conservation and Resource Management Committee, Rob Anderson, said that there was a growing recognition that salinity has been a long-term problem for Australia, and he is pleased that the Community Salinity Summit would concentrate on finding solutions rather than apportioning blame.

The recent Salinity Audit by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission has determined that the economic cost of dryland salinity is $46.2 million per year, and this is sure to rise sharply unless mitigating action is taken.

No one is protected from this problem. Agricultural producers will be forced to spend more to find solutions; even local councils will be forced to pay for damage to roads and infrastructure caused by rising water tables. All this has to be paid for by local communities who can scarcely afford it.

Peter Wright
Native Vegetation Coordinator
Nature Conservation Council

St Marys Woodlands
The Department of Urban Affairs and Planning has released a Draft Regional Environmental Plan for the St Mary’s Woodlands, formerly owned by ADI. This Draft REP would mean massive urban development and the destruction of one of the largest remaining stands of Cumberland Plain Woodland. Cumberland Plain Woodland has been listed in both Federal and State endangered species legislation as an endangered ecological community.

The proposed pattern of development would mean that significant parts of the woodland on the site would be cleared for housing or industrial development. Whilst a regional park would be created, this is largely located in areas unsuitable for urban development as the land is flood prone. The integrity of the regional park would be further diminished by the construction of wetlands within the protected area, making the park boundary unmanageable and prone to weed invasion.

The Australian Heritage Commission has listed most of the St Marys Woodland on the Register of the National Estate. NPA has been lobbying for some time for the whole area to be protected as a regional park for the people of western Sydney. These lands are as valuable for conservation as the defence lands on the harbour and should be protected from development.

The NPWS has apparently jumped into bed with Lend Lease, the developer of the site, in coming to a deal which means the Service will receive a payment for each house developed on the land. This ‘greenmail’ is supposed to provide for management of the flood-prone and dissected regional park - the result of the Service caving in to the developers demands.

The Service’s actions run counter to the Government’s recently released Western Sydney Environment Strategy, which declares that it is vital that remaining Cumberland Plain Woodland be conserved. Surely this should include the largest of the remnants, at St Marys, Mulgoa and Orchard Hills. The Service’s action also puts into serious doubt the effectiveness of a Recovery Plan for Cumberland Plain Woodland which they are in the process of developing.

What you can do: If you wish to support the campaign to protect this nationally significant site, you can write to DUAP opposing the draft REP. You should point out the high nature conservation values of the woodlands and the potential recreational benefits to the people of western Sydney which would arise from protection of the whole area. You could also write to the Premier and the Federal Minister for the Environment, Senator Robert Hill, urging that they act to protect the endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland community at St Marys.

Roger Lembit
NPA President

Environment course
The Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of NSW Wales is coordinating a new program of inter-disciplinary study in environmental management.
There are Master's, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate courses available.
For more detail, ring 9385 4973 or e-mail R.Harding@unsw.edu.au