Yandina Creek Wetlands

Many of the folk here will be aware of a campaign to protect the nationally significant Yandina Creek Wetlands on the Sunshine Coast. The bad news at hand is that the Sunshine Coast Council has rejected numerous appeals to acquire the 200ha wetlands for a reserve under its Environment Levy Plan. The council is not interested in purchasing even one of the three properties containing the wetlands and has declared that their protection is not a matter of “high priority”, although work began at the site recently to drain the area. The Mayor of the Sunshine Coast, Mark Jamieson, has refused requests to meet a delegation of concerned citizens to discuss the proposal. The good news is that both the Commonwealth and the Queensland governments are showing an active interest in the wetlands. Following intervention by federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, a team from his department recently inspected the wetlands to determine if the drainage works presently underway breached Commonwealth laws that protect the endangered species and migratory shorebirds that frequent the area. And now the Queensland Environment Minister, Steven Miles, has declared his intention to inspect the wetlands and has asked for an urgent briefing from his department. I have suggested what people can do to further the cause in this blog post: http://sunshinecoastbirds.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/yandina-creek-wetlands-update-council.html Greg Robertsninderry@westnet.com.auhttp://sunshinecoastbirds.blogspot.com/