WA Greens have called on federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to reverse a decision to approve clearing at Nigel Satterley’s North Stoneville site, a significant habitat for threatened native species including the chuditch, phascogale and all three species of black cockatoo.

WA Greens MLC Brad Pettitt this week wrote to Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek urging her to reverse the decision, following a similar move by the Shire of Mundaring last week as reported in Shire of Mundaring acts to stop North Stoneville’s destruction.

“The North Stoneville site was inappropriate in 1991 when it was first proposed; threats to biodiversity and bushfire risk have only added to concerns in the decades since,” Dr Pettitt said.

“To build here would put future residents at serious risk of climate-related impacts, especially bushfires, not to mention the destruction of hundreds of hectares of endangered black cockatoo and chuditch habitat.

“In 2014 there was a catastrophic bushfire in the area that destroyed 57 homes, and in 2020 the proposal was rejected for failing to properly mitigate future bushfire risk.

“The Greens have always supported the grassroots community campaign to protect biodiversity and lives in the Perth Hills, and we will continue to do so with Janelle – a hills’ local and former Kalamunda councillor who has been a part of the campaign against Stoneville from the beginning – as our candidate for Kalamunda.”

WA Greens Kalamunda candidate Janelle Sewell said she was immensely disappointed in the decision, given the community had been fighting to stop the development from going ahead for more than 30 years.

“I’ve rallied with Save Perth Hills against the Satterley hills development from the beginning of the campaign and will continue to fight to protect our environmentally vulnerable region,” Ms Sewell said.

“As a City of Kalamunda councillor, I worked with the local community to declare a climate emergency and have been a strong advocate for biodiversity policies and protection of mature trees.

“The impacts of one of the driest summers on record remains for all to see throughout the seat of Kalamunda, from Pickering Brook to Worooloo and across to Darlington.   

“Our endangered black cockatoos are already starving, the offsets proposed will do nothing to protect this species.

“As the Greens WA candidate for Kalamunda, I want to take the hills’ concern about the decision to Tanya Plibersek.

“While a federal approval has occurred, this by no means will result in approval at a state level,” she said.

“My electorate, too, is not immune to housing pressures – but we must make sure that any future development safeguards people and environment in our increasingly bushfire vulnerable region.”

Kalamunda includes the biodiverse and bushfire prone Perth Hills region between Kalamunda and Mundaring.

Hasluck MHR Tania Lawrence and Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds have both previously voiced their opposition to the project.