Dear Editor
Why does bushland have to be cleared when the Property Council of the NT’s ‘accurate’ assessment of vacant residential land found ‘more than 5,300 blocks’ likely to be available (NT News September 19, 2018)? 500 of these residential lots will be created when the bush opposite Lee Point Resort is cleared by Defence Housing.
Defence Housing’s Environmental Impact Statement says they will build ‘much needed affordable housing’. How can it be ‘much needed’ when the Property Council says we are in ‘heavy over-supply’?
This part of Lee Point is currently not a home for people, but it’s far from vacant. It is home to many native animals and birds. Endangered Black-footed Tree-Rats den in the hollows of the big trees. Next door to the proposed suburb are migratory birds, just back from the Arctic Circle feeding on the beaches. Red-tailed Black Cockatoos use the trees for roosts and food. Why displace these creatures and this bush, when we clearly don’t need more land for houses?
There is an over-supply of places for people to live, but animals and birds are losing habitat every day. How about building on truly vacant land, then and only then clearing some of what’s left?
Yours sincerely
Deborah Hall
24 September, 2018