Community Alliance Party

Today's recommendation by an Assembly committee to ban on development of Central Molonglo has been welcomed by Norvan Vogt, Community Alliance Party candidate for Molonglo.

"The Community Alliance's policy is that all proposed developments must meet social, economic and environmental objectives," said Mr Vogt.

"Putting 9000 houses plus on top of a critically endangered ecological community is not environmentally responsible in our view," he said.

The Central Molonglo area is home to an area of relatively unmodified Yellow Box – Red Gum Grassy Woodland, which is now declared as critically endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

This ecological community once covered the inland slopes of NSW and Victoria, but now about 95% has been lost due to clearing for agriculture and urban development.

"Some of the best examples of the remaining five per cent are in the ACT, and so we have a special responsibility to protect what we have," said Mr Vogt.

"When you add in the potential loss of Wedge-tailed Eagle nesting habitat and some valuable lowland grassland, it verges on the unthinkable that any sensible government would even consider developing this area," he said.

"We are also unimpressed with the damming of the Molonglo River, possibly in a bid to increase house prices, and we have substantial concerns about the rest of the North Weston–Molonglo development. It seems to be a case of cramming as many houses in as possible, without the supporting infrastructure such as provision for adequate public transport or employment," said Mr Vogt.

Mr Vogt says that the Community Alliance would take as much of the planning for this entire development as possible back to the drawing board, with a view to taking environmental and social considerations genuinely into account.

Contact: Norvan Vogt