NEWCASTLE Greens councillors want the state government to hand over undisturbed bushland around two major infrastructure projects to the council for protection in perpetuity.
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Deputy lord mayor Charlotte McCabe and councillors Siobhan Isherwood and Joel Pringle will ask their council colleagues to help protect three parcels of land around the Rankin Park to Jesmond Newcastle Inner City Bypass and John Hunter Hospital precinct at next week's meeting.
The motion argues the land, which forms part of the Jesmond Bushland Complex, has faced serious challenges with the construction of the $450 million, 3.4-kilometre bypass to the west of John Hunter Hospital.
"Habitat loss and degradation are listed as key threatening processes under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016," the motion said.
"When associated with a lack of focused management capability due to disjointed land ownership and undefined management responsibilities, the situation becomes a critical matter for biodiversity conservation and for protecting species such as our squirrel glider population in Jesmond."
The councillors want Transport for NSW and Hunter New England Health to dedicate the land to the council in perpetuity.
Under the proposal, City of Newcastle (CN) could reclassify the parcels as Community Land and categorise it as a Natural Area. If the land was dedicated to the council, it could create a conservation agreement with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust to enable further support and funding to protect the land.
The motion said the bushland has been the subject of a substantial investment of funds, time and enthusiasm by the community, Landcare volunteers and the council over many decades.
"On this basis, it is wholly appropriate that these lands are dedicated to CN as bushland assets for their care, protection and management in perpetuity," the motion said.
"It is vital that the last remnants of the Jesmond Bushland Complex are reunited under one management regime to ensure their viability in perpetuity as community commons.
"CN needs to be enabled in its commitment to effectively manage the Newcastle local government area's diminishing bushland assets, through the dedication of these remaining vegetated areas, for the benefit of current and future generations and the biodiversity they hold."
In 2021, the council purchased a parcel of bushland at 77 Dangerfield Drive, securing it as a bushland asset.
Councillors will decide on Tuesday whether to write to the ministers for health, roads and regional transport, and Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery, urging them to cooperate in dedicating the remaining bushland parcels to the council.
Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a born and bred Novocastrian who started her career as a journalist in the New England North West in 2016. She is an experienced council and court reporter, former deputy editor of the Northern Daily Leader and two-time Kennedy Award finalist. In unrelated incidents, she previously reported on country music in Australia's country music capital and was once flung across Lake Macquarie in a power boat at more than 100 kilometres per hour. Maddie now works at the Newcastle Herald with a focus on Newcastle council. To keep up with my stories, follow my X @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
