More than a dozen protesters gathered outside Council Chambers on Tuesday night to make their voices heard about the proposed clearing of a roosting site for a threatened species of cockatoos.
Members of Save the Great Brixton Wetlands held a banner, waved large feathers and beat their drums in support of the threated black cockatoos as the public gallery assembled for the Ordinary Council Meeting.
Councillors Dave Griffiths and Carey-Ann Brett approached the group before the meeting and protest organiser Paddy Cullen stood in front of council to ask a question about the risk, damages and costs involved in the pit and pipe drainage system currently proposed for the roosting site in Beckenham.
“The professional hydrologists and botanists say the Great Brixton Wetlands has one of the most complex hydrological systems in the Swan Coast plain which even they don’t understand fully,” he said.
“Because of the high conservation values they say we should not risk pit and pipe drainage as that could take water away from the wetland and add unfiltered polluted water to the local stream which connects up to various reserves.”
Instead Mr Cullen suggested the City of Gosnells opt for a cheaper infiltration system that would replenish the wetlands, one that was used at the Perth stadium site.
Mr Cullen said they were also concerned about massive trucks coming into the area and the effect they would have on the roost sites of the Karaaks, otherwise known as a Forest Red Tailed Black Cockatoo.
“The Karaak is a threatened species that must be protected,” he said.
“We are not against the development but would like it to be done in a way that respects Nyungar heritage and the environment where a standard buffer zone of 100 metres is placed around important heritage and environmental sites.”
