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From The Examiner:

Techno Park tree hitch: Masked owls in the area where 109 houses planned

September 4 2024

Nesting trees for the Tasmanian Masked Owl and foraging trees for the Swift Parrot are located on the land earmarked for new housing at Techno Park, according to a 2022 government report.

The report called for detailed surveys of the area to confirm if the trees are in use by the endangered masked owl, which could raise extra approval hurdles under national environmental laws.

Homes Tasmania has ruled that the removal of the trees would not have a significant impact on species'.

Calls for night-time survey to see if owls live in area Public submissions for the 109-lot housing development proposed by Housing Tasmania have expressed numerous concerns.

This included the possible environmental impacts on the endangered masked owl, the endangered swift parrot, and the vulnerable Eastern Barred Bandicoot.

Concerned resident Matthew Kean has written to the State Planning Office calling for a detailed survey of the area at night to establish whether masked owls live in the area.

"I've got video and pictures of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot in the area, and masked owls are in this area but they are nocturnal and it is too hard to get pictures," he said.

"On regular occasions I have seen a pair of masked owls around my property sitting on the fence or roof."

Mr Kean said the loss of one nesting tree would be significant to the species.

A government website states a major threat to Tasmania's estimated 500 masked owl breeding pairs is clearing of nesting habitat, particularly of tree hollows.

"To avoid loss of nesting and roosting trees do not remove single or isolated older trees which contain hollows suitable for nesting".

He said the surveys should extend to all hollow trees in the wider geographical region, including an area he labelled Forico, which he supposed would also eventually be turned into housing.

A 2022 environmental assessment of the land proposed for 109-housing lots and surrounding areas found seven hollow trees suitable for masked owl nesting.

The GHD report found seven blue gums and eight swamp gums located in or near the land planned for housing development, which are foraging habitat for the endangered Swift Parrot.

It said removal of the trees was unlikely to have a significant impact on the species'.

The report did not sight any masked owls as part of its survey, but said that they had been sighted within 5 kilometres of the site.

It recommended a targeted, night-time ecological survey of the area, including a survey using recorded owl calls, to ensure owls were not located at the site.

"No masked owl individuals were identified or recorded as part of the field survey, however, this should not be taken as a definitive record that the species is not located at the site given the daytime period, short duration and lack of repeated surveys," the report said.

"Given the current survey was conducted outside the breeding period for both species, it cannot be confirmed that the hollow bearing trees do not provide a breeding site for the species.

"Although the removal of the trees is unlikely to represent a significant impact for either species, this mitigation measure would act to limit any potential direct impacts on the species."

The report said if masked owls or swift parrots were found to occupy the trees, it would be a matter of national significance under Federal environmental laws.

A 2023 Tasmania Planning Commission report states that Homes Tasmania resurveyed the site, under the guidance of the Department of Natural Resource and the Environment.

"The NRET confirmed that the additional work undertaken by Homes Tasmania was sufficient to establish that the proposed development is highly unlikely to have any significant impact on threatened flora and fauna or their associated foraging habitat," it said.

"Homes Tasmania also commissioned physical inspection of the hollow bearing trees onsite which confirmed the hollows are not used by the Tasmanian Masked Owl."

It said another independent report by North Barker has found that the flora and habitat values of the site require no further consideration.