CITY of Swan councillors have voted 10-1 to adopt a revised native fauna management policy for public advertising.

The revised native fauna management policy has resulted from amending in May last year an earlier kangaroo management policy so that the policy now includes native fauna.

In July an officer’s report said scheme amendment No. 199 to local planning scheme No. 17 was initiated by the council in  August 2021 to introduce provisions requiring native fauna management plans to be prepared to the satisfaction of the city on the advice of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) prior to the clearing of land which may provide habitat for native fauna.

“(But) the amendment was refused by the minister on August 2, 2023 as it was considered a duplication of the deemed provisions in schedule 2, part 4, clause 16 of the planning and development (local planning schemes) regulations 2015 which makes provision for fauna management plans to be prepared at structure plan stage and for the protection and relocation of native fauna,’’ the officer’s report said.

Following this decision, at its meeting of May 8, 2024 the council considered a notice of motion submitted by then councillor Amanda Dorn.

The motion said the chief executive officer should review the kangaroo management policy to also include other native fauna, through the inclusion of a definition of ‘native fauna’ that referred to “total vertebrate and invertebrate fauna taxa (genera, species and subspecies) diversity”.

Then Cr Dorn, who was elected to the Legislative Council earlier this year, said the reason for the motion was to ensure the effective control of not only kangaroos but other native fauna such as possums, bandicoots, echidnas, snakes, goannas, bob tails and other lizards and reptiles, frogs, turtles and birds, impacted by proposed urban development.

Back in April 2021 an officer’s report said land development in the city’s urban growth corridor had removed big amounts of habitat and displaced significant populations of native fauna, particularly kangaroos.

The report said the remaining kangaroos existed in a fragmented landscape on the edge of dense residential settlement.

“This landscape is now punctuated by exclusion fencing that disrupts the normal movement patterns for these animals,’’ the report said.

“Increased local traffic volumes due to development and the presence of adjacent human settlement have led to an increase in vehicle collisions and incidences of animal injury.’’