On 20 May 2021, Spencer and his mum Maxine tabled his petition and delivered the following letter to Noosa Council CEO Brett de Chastel:
Dear Mr. de Chastel,
Re: Petition to save Glossy Black Cockatoo habitat at Grasstree Court, Sunrise Beach.
Your attention is drawn to the attached petition of Spencer Hitchen with over 41,000 (edit now more than 47,000!) signatories to save the site at Grasstree Court, Sunrise Beach from clearing and development by the Uniting Church Australia, Qld Synod/Uniting Care/Blue Care/Lendlease. The petition started on Change.org two months ago with a confirm click interface, but 1370 people have taken the time to post comments and many others have backed up their signatures with letters and phone calls to the Church, Councillors, the Mayor, Blue Care and Lendlease.
The 41,000 signatures are made up of approximately 2,000 local Noosa residents and many thousand more residents in south-east Queensland, Australia and internationally (see attached). Given the international status of Noosa and its listing as a Biosphere Reserve internationally, it is essential that as a community we look to both what our local residents consider and those further afield.
While the petition is directed at The Uniting Church, we ask for Noosa Council to formally acknowledge the huge support Spencer has received locally, nationally and internationally in his quest to save this habitat, and we therefore ask for this petition to be presented to the Council.
In doing so we request that the Council recognise that the site in question is likely to be a critical habitat of the Glossy Black Cockatoo and therefore critical to the species survival locally and nationally. Can the Noosa Council on behalf of the children and the community, formally approach the Uniting Church to discuss options for a land swap or other alternative to help the Uniting Church resolve our Communities’ multiple concerns?
Further, we request for Noosa Council to halt clearing of the site and request a new and independent Environmental Impact Statement given that the Ecological Management Plan (2021), prepared by environmental consultant Gondwana Ecology Group engaged by the Developer in 2018, is defective in two respects. First, it underestimates the ecological values present in Sunrise Beach. Second, the report does not frame appropriate solutions.
First, (i) the report refers to 71 Favoured Feed Trees, where in reality 104 + are possibly present,
(ii) the report was conducted during October 2018 which is low season and only counts 2 glossies where a range of none to 30 can be seen depending on the season. In the autumn /winter period this is when we see our winter flock/s. The high use of this area can be easily confirmed currently by attending the sites. Fresh orts are visible all over the sites, we are observing up to 22 Glossies flying in and out from the West. These Glossies know exactly where they are going. They are flying into their feeding grounds and feeding from the trees on both sites. They fly over large areas of trees including the proposed offset site not stopping until they reach their destination Grasstree Court, Sunrise Beach, Qld. (iii)The reports do not have any mention of where the Glossies that feed on this site are coming from and therefore can not possibly evaluate the true value of this site.
Favoured Feeding ground which the Fussy Vulnerable Glossy Black-Cockatoos are relying on to survive. These Glossies may have lost extensive habitat from the drought, storms, development and the 2019/20 fires. Losing this feeding ground may topple our already Fussy Vulnerable Glossy Black-Cockatoos into Extinction, like what has happened in the South Australian mainland due to habitat loss. We should be learning from others’ mistakes not following them.
Second, the solutions proposed are inadequate as the report suggests
(i) offset planting at a ratio of 8:1 of these Favoured Feed Trees on an alternative site, which does not account for the 8 – 10 years before these trees will germinate any fruit,
(ii) does not take into account the progressive decline in the current available food sources following the Peregian and Cooroibah Fires in 2019 and 2020, and progressive destruction of cockatoo habitat from the Noosa Civic, Noosa Junction Coles Development, Noosa Springs, Settlers Cove, The J, Cooloola Estate, the Tennis Club, the NAC, the Flexi Learning Centre, Sunshine Beach State Primary & High Schools, St Thomas More, Bicentennial Hall, to name a few. All of this has led to a Fussy Vulnerable Glossy Black-Cockatoo fragmented habitat. Our local Glossy Warriors have all seen what happens when Glossies lose their feeding habitat & human population increases at Pinaroo Park, a favoured watering hole the Glossies left never to return. Our Glossies have nowhere to run.
(iii) does not account for the close proximity of the current site to fresh water sources that are utilised daily by the Glossy Black Cockatoos and their young. This habitat is close to the breeding grounds which is indicated by the Glossy Black-Cockatoos bringing their newly fledged juveniles here using it like a nursery.
(iv) the Developer is non-compliant with the public consultation requirement in the Plan as the public webinar recording was not made publicly available, questions and answers were not supplied to any of the Glossy Team Sunrise members who asked, and Blue Care now ignores contact from the peak community organisation acting as a vehicle for these concerns. Community engagement for this program has been continually shifting as Blue Care / Lendlease and the various arms of the Uniting Church shifts responsibilities but never truly engages with the community.
We trust that Noosa Council will listen to the Sunrise Beach community and act appropriately by engaging with the Uniting Church / Blue Care to address these concerns.
Yours Sincerely,
Maxine Hitchen,
(on behalf of Spencer Hitchen and many concerned residents as part of Glossy Team Sunrise)
