Representing Self

Choosing an avatar was difficult, with self-representation as important to me as enabling freedom of participation through anonymity. While originally leaning towards a photograph taken in the Perth Hills; John Forrest National Park, Noble Falls or local flora and fauna, I took a step back and asked myself, what are you trying to represent?

At the forefront of this blog is the need for conscious decision making, ensuring a sustainable future for our children. Ultimately, I used Looka to create a simple logo representing nature through use of colour, nurturing hands and a building graphic to represent development.

Limit urban sprawl – a common issue

A recent article out of Queensland shows we are not alone in the Perth Hills, in the need for creating action groups in an attempt to stop developers from altering our environment and our lifestyles. Councils and governments around the country have a tough gig predicting the future needs of a rising population, and a 2019 outlook study by CSIRO shows Brisbane & Perth will see similar growth of 4-5 million people by 2060, making our plight against urban sprawl somewhat comparable.

A desire to remain close to the CBD while preferring a more urban lifestyle is a balancing act for all, and besides the environment itself, perhaps the biggest impact is on existing residents of outer suburbs. A change in quality of life since surrounding land was sold and subdivided, resulting in a change of scenery in the area, was but one issue raised in this article and is alike a concern raised at Augusts council meeting where a Stoneville local complained that their bush views would be replaced by waste water treatment facilities. Something property developers Satterley argued, would be discreet.

This leads me to rebut a rather ambiguous claim from Satterley, that North Stoneville “has been reaffirmed in the Perth and Peel @ 3.5million State Government Planning Framework” a localised report from WA’s Department of Planning Land and Heritage. Nowhere in the March 2018 report could I find confirmation of a project that is yet to be approved by the WA Planning commission, on land that is yet to be sold by the Anglican Diocese. What I did find, is the hills are not connected to metro water and that proposed Stoneville & Parkerville developments would need to consider options to provide sustainable wastewater treatment/disposal, with developers needing to investigate potential provision of supplies by alternative service providers in regard to water supply and wastewater – which was just one of the reasons the Shire of Mundaring themselves rejected the proposal.

Queensland’s Chermside is considered high density and was built around existing infrastructure, the  distance from Brisbane CBD is similar to Midlands location in the Perth foothills, coinciding with WA Premier McGowans desire to utilise infill development for high density living as far east as Midland. If Western Australia can take lessons from interstate such as Limb’s recommendation to support infill developments with sufficient public transport and Dr Matthews declaration that greater density is essential, perhaps we can limit the sprawl here is WA, in turn protecting hundreds of hectares of native bushland and the Perth Hills lifestyle.

Importance of SP34

The North Stoneville development, also known as SP34, should be on the radar of anyone in this country that has an interest in sustainable development, conservation and environmental issues.

Located within the Shire of Mundaring, and listed as 1 of 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world, the impact such a development will have on the environment is irreversible. Several species of Black Cockatoos, Chuditch, Wedge Tailed Eagles and other native animals rely on this bushland for habitat and food. Without it, they simply will not survive. For Western Australians, this may remind you of the Baldivis kangaroo saga earlier this year where developer Spatial Property Group eventually agreed to relocate 150-200 Western Grey Kangaroos at a cost of $220,000 to the taxpayer. Sadly, over half of these roos have died due to stress related injuries, an unacceptable outcome that cannot be repeated.  When will we learn from our past and protect our future?

The Shire of Mundaring have already refused SP34 on several grounds including Main Roads opposition due to a lack of planned upgrades to the Great Eastern Highway, an inadequate bushfire management plan, compromised water quality into local brooks as well as insufficient consultation with traditional land owners. The final decision lays in the hands of WAPC which could take months.

I, like many other locals, have taken to writing letters to the Anglican diocese in hope of stopping the development before WAPC make the final decision. I took the opportunity to provide the church with several other uses for the land they may like to consider, while I didn’t receive any form of response, others did.
I do understand development is inevitable and the church do have development rights under Western Australian law to develop gifted land, however, it is high density living that is unsustainable. Even external studies undertaken found existing roads can only cater for 70 more dwellings, a far cry from the 1410 proposed by Satterley.

The outcome of this proposed development is of particular importance, as it will set a precedence on future developments in the area, which are already being earmarked, for example North Parkerville and several smaller developments in Mount Helena. It is hard to believe anything Satterley tell us, after all, Nigel Satterley himself recently stated urban sprawl is dead, yet here we are, urbanisation spreading into the Perth Hills.

Personal Interest

Living in close proximity to this development and keeping in mind the very essence of why we bought our family home, has led me to take such an interest in this particular development. It is the feeling of a fairly imminent change to our life style and surroundings that has almost frightened me into the need to take action.

Until recently, I have not been one to write letters, book a babysitter to head to council meetings and certainly not take the time to start and maintain a blog. Yet here I am, juggling family life, university and now writing my heart out in hope that I can simplify the situation enough to grab the attention of people who may be willing to help our cause. You see, I fear that without people standing up and saying no to both the Anglican diocese as well as Satterley the developers, there is a very real chance the Perth Hills, will lose the very essence, of what makes them, the Perth Hills.

Our family enjoy the outdoors particularly walking, bike riding, native fauna and, (admittedly, quite selfishly), the quiet that is found is this area. As I have the privilege of being a stay at home mum, I quite often visit places on weekdays and as such am able to ‘avoid the crowd’. The thing is, as it stands, the Perth Hills has a very spacious feel thanks to the limited population of people living there. To think that there could soon be 1400 houses built, that could easily add 4000+ people to what is a small population, is concerning.

The impact such huge numbers will have on our community is one I feel will affect my family on a daily basis as well as visitors to our region who come to get a sense of space, a sense of place. Infrastructure as it stands is inadequate for the existing population let alone any influx, with a lack of flow through traffic in certain areas (which could prove deadly if there is a repeat of the 2014 Parkerville/Stoneville bushfires), a high unemployment rate of  5.87% (higher than the national average), not to mention the effect on flora and fauna through loss of habitat, interruption to breeding areas and likelihood of contamination to water sources.  It is my hope that my blog will help spread the message to save the much-loved Perth Hills.

About Me

As a couple, my husband and I bought our first house together with the vision of our future brood running around the back yard, playing soccer (or football if you ask my English husband), and exploring the native bushland our bio diverse block offers. Clean country air, 40 minutes from Perth city. Heaven.

Fast forward five years, our vision is reality and we are in love with the life-style the Perth Hills provide.

Now, less than 8km away, sits 555 hectares of bio diversity bushland Satterley want to bulldoze making way for 1410 residential lots, changing the Perth Hills as we know it, forever.

#sustainabledevelopment #perthhills #saveperthhills #saynotoSP34 #satterley #zerotohero