27/08/2026
Koalas threatened by Southern Thornlands development.
The Koala Action Group (KAG) is calling for the proposed development in the Southern Thornlands Priority Development Area (PDA) to be significantly scaled back, warning that plans proposed by the State Government threaten one of the Redlands’ most important koala habitats.
KAG President Debbie Pointing said such development would come at an unacceptable environmental cost.
“The current proposal would destroy tens of thousands of trees, remove sections of a recognised ecological corridor and further fragment prime koala habitat, despite the Government’s own Interim Land Use Plan (ILUP) promising to protect significant biodiversity values, preserve and rehabilitate critical habitat corridors and minimise impacts on endangered species”.
“This sends completely the wrong message. The Government cannot promise to protect critical habitat corridors in its planning documents while simultaneously allowing development that bulldozes and fragments those very corridors.”
“If Precinct 1, along the eastern side of Springacre Road, is any indication of how future development will occur, the warning signs are already there with the site resembling a moonscape, and very few mature trees left standing,” Ms Pointing said.
KAG is particularly concerned about proposed clearing within the Regional Ecological Corridor along Eprapah Creek, an area recognised as a ‘Matter of State Environmental Significance’.
The group says further habitat removal is proposed to accommodate stormwater detention basins, despite suitable areas of already disturbed land being available elsewhere within the site.
“It is simply unacceptable to sacrifice an environmentally significant wildlife corridor for infrastructure when alternative locations on already disturbed land should be properly investigated,” Ms Pointing said.
Ecological studies undertaken for the Government identified high levels of koala activity throughout Precinct 1, including a female koala with a joey. Despite this, KAG says virtually no mature trees have been retained within extensive residential areas, while significant mature roadside vegetation has also been removed.
“These are not just trees on a development plan. They are koala habitat, wildlife shelter and part of an ecological system that has taken decades to develop.”
“Once thousands of mature trees are gone, they cannot simply be replaced with saplings and claimed back as equivalent habitat. Those trees will not be recreated in our lifetime.”
“Future generations will rightly ask why decision-makers failed to apply best-practice planning principles when they had the opportunity to do better.”
KAG is also alarmed by what it considers inadequate fauna movement provisions.
“The ILUP identifies the importance of 50-metre-wide habitat corridors, yet inadequate fauna movement corridors appear to have been allowed to proceed. Even more disturbing is the lack of adequate fauna crossings and exclusion fencing.”
“Local roads are already a killing field for wildlife. Increasing development, traffic and habitat fragmentation without providing safe wildlife movement infrastructure is a recipe for more koala and wildlife deaths.”
KAG is calling on Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) to urgently reconsider how future development within the Southern Thornlands PDA is designed and delivered., including:
* Protection and strengthening of the Regional Ecological Corridor along Eprapah Creek.
* Stormwater detention infrastructure to be located on already cleared or disturbed land wherever practicable.
* Wildlife corridors to be at least 50 metres wide
* Retention of mature roadside vegetation and significant koala food trees.
* Properly designed fauna crossings to allow safe movement of koalas and other wildlife.
* Appropriate fauna exclusion fencing where required.
* The incorporation of koala-sensitive urban design as a fundamental requirement of future development.
* A significant reduction in the clearing and fragmentation of existing koala habitat.
“The choice is now ours. We can leave a legacy of genuinely smart planning that respects koalas, wildlife and the environment, or we can leave behind irreversible environmental damage that future generations cannot undo.”
“The Redlands has already lost far too much koala habitat. We cannot continue the same pattern of clearing and fragmentation and then pretend that a few replacement trees will make everything right.”
Ms Pointing said the community must make its concerns known while there is still an opportunity to influence the future of Southern Thornlands.
“This is a once-in-a-generation planning decision. Once the bulldozers move in and the mature habitat is gone, there is no going back. The community must speak up now.”
KAG is urging residents to make a submission on the Southern Thornlands PDA proposal by 15 September, 2026.
https://www.yoursay.edq.qld.gov.au/southern-thornlands-priority-development-area
Link to story on the Redlands2030 website: https://redlands2030.net/koalas-threatened-by-southern-thornlands-development/
