Council says warnings ignored about tree removal in Central West Orana REZ
Trees were cleared along Merotherie Road, about 20 kilometres from Gulgong, in November. (Supplied: Andrew Gee)
In short:
The NSW Government is being accused of ignoring warnings about the destruction of hundreds of native trees for a renewables project.
An estimated 670 trees were removed from a roadside north of Mudgee, displacing dozens of native birds and chicks.
What's next?
The government agency EnergyCo will undertake a biodiversity offset program.
The NSW government is being accused of wilfully ignoring warnings about the destruction of hundreds of native trees as part of a renewables project.
The Mid-Western Regional Council said it was told five weeks ago that renewable energy company ACEREZ would be removing 670 established trees from a roadside north of Mudgee.
The clearing sparked community outrage after images of about 60 displaced baby birds emerged.
The council's general manager Brad Cam said the community and council had been lobbying for more than 12 months to prevent the land clearing.
"[It's] exactly what I thought was going to happen, so very disappointed, very frustrated that we weren't listened to, or it was certainly dismissed as not a critical event," he said.
"It could have been avoided and it hasn't because it's just poor planning."
Dozens of native hatchlings, including kookaburras, rosellas and galahs were displaced after hollow trees were removed by ACEREZ. (Supplied: Sharon Martin)
The removal of native and hollow-bearing trees was part of work done for the NSW government agency EnergyCo, which is heading up the multi-billion-dollar Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).
EnergyCo drew up the planning and biodiversity assessments, approved in 2024, and then appointed ACEREZ as the contractor for the REZ transmission network.
The Mid-Western Regional Council began negotiating with both groups in September 2024, after it became aware of plans to widen the Merotherie Road by removing centuries-old natives.
The roadworks were designed to allow for equipment and increased traffic to an energy hub, and workforce accommodation for around 1,200 people.
The Mid-Western Regional Council's general manager Brad Cam fought for an alternative to the tree destruction on Merotherie Road. (Supplied: Regional Development Australia)
"We have really been spending an enormous amount of time with EnergyCo and ACEREZ to avoid this situation," Mr Cam said.
"There were several meetings both on site as well as in our council buildings to discuss alternatives, but unfortunately they just fell on deaf ears."
One suggestion was to build a new road parallel to the existing one, on already cleared land owned by EnergyCo.
Mr Can said that would have allowed for the now-cleared vegetation to be turned into a wildlife corridor.
Merotherie Road, north of Gulgong, before and after tree removal. (Supplied: Emma Bowman)
"In the end a poor decision was made because no one would make a decision in a timely manner,"he said.
EnergyCo told the ABC that the meetings were "part of our broader process with regional stakeholders to ensure transparency and collaboration" and where possible it incorporated feedback.
Government trumped council
An ACEREZ spokesperson said it had been working closely with the Mid Western Regional Council on the road design.
It said the upgrade was identified in the project's Environmental Impact Statement that was submitted by EnergyCo in 2023.
The company said vegetation was removed to "comply with Austroad standards and the local road authority's codes".
When the council was informed that 670 trees would be cleared, it refused to sign a Section-138 Certificate giving consent for the works on the council-owned road.
"We certainly didn't approve the works to be done, but because it's a state-significant critical infrastructure project our authority can be removed and the work continued without our approval," Mr Cam said.
"We do matter, we do count and our thoughts and our concerns need to be taken into consideration, not just full-steam ahead on a project that's for the national good or the NSW good," he said.
Flawed offsets system
Sue Higginson says an independent police integrity commission is needed. (ABC News: Berge Breiland)
NSW Greens MP and environment spokeswoman Sue Higginson said it was an example of a failing planning system that allowed the developer and government to "bulldoze past environmental protections".
"To destroy nature in the name of protecting nature doesn't square,"she said.
"We seem to have a way of driving the planning system that just approves environmental destruction, where we seem to choose the quickest, or cheapest, or easiest way to do development."
EnergyCo is set to spend $140 million on biodiversity offsets, after entering into a 'Biodiversity Conservation Investment Strategy' with the government for the REZ.
During the clearing works ACEREZ collected seeds to be replanted.
But Ms Higginson said the "defective biodiversity offsets system is being used as a battering ram to push all kinds of development through the planning system at nature's expense".
"I just don't think communities are going to cop this level of biodiversity destruction across the landscape justified by the renewable energy rollout," she said.