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Earlier this year The Point embarked on a series of articles about the state of wetlands on the Central Coast – well here’s an update and some new videos.
By Jacquelene Pearson
Earlier this year we published a series of articles about wetlands – their importance, their fragility and the threats posed to them:
Now we’re ready to give you a bit of an update and make some more accompanying videos available.
Spring Creek Wetland – the fate of Spring Creek Wetland remains unknown. You will recall that it was owned by Central Coast Council but sold off by an administrator and then unlawfully cleared.
Porters Creek Wetland – the Central Coast Council adopted its Airport Masterplan in February. It did include provisions for a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT).
According to Central Coast Council one of the key benefits of the adoption of the airport masterplan was that it would result in protection of “Porters Creek Wetland and surrounding areas of high ecological value through a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement (BSA), the highest level of environmental protection available in NSW.”
In July Central Coast Council called for tenders Contract Title: Biodiversity Stewardship Site Assessment Report for Porters Creek Wetland and Warnervale Floodplain
Central Coast Council is seeking Tenders for the engagement of a suitably qualified and experienced Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM) accredited ecologist to undertake the preparation of a Biodiversity Stewardship Site Assessment Report (BSSAR) and Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement (BSA) application over the Porters Creek Wetland and Warnervale Floodplain.
“The project objective is the preparation of a Biodiversity Stewardship Site Assessment Report (BSSAR) and Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement (BSA) application to the Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) over the Porters Creek Wetland and Warnervale Floodplain.
“The master planning process for Central Coast Airport in Warnervale requires a Biodiversity Certification Assessment Report (BCAR) to be submitted in August 2025.
“The BCAR relies on a BSA on the adjoining Council-owned Porters Creek Wetland lots to generate most of the required ecosystem and species credits.
“The proposed stewardship site comprises almost 1000 ha of Council-owned land (a mix of operational and community classified land) on 34 lots.
“The site is a freshwater wetland with forested wetland and dry sclerophyll forests. “
The Contract is expected to run for 18 months.
However, what the public has not been privy to is the boundaries of the area to be covered by the stewardship agreement. It is, therefore, difficult to assess how much high-conservation land will fall outside the boundaries of the stewardship site and be subject to rezoning.
Here is the video of our interviews with Mike Campbell OAM and Gary Chestnut about Porters Creek Wetland. And here is the final video of the series focused on Mike Campbell’s recollections of the fight to save Central Coast Wetland – Pioneer Dairy.
