This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE Queensland government has secured a further 400-hectares for koala relocation, as state makes way for building the second M1.
The second M1 or the Coomera Connector is a future north-south road corridor between Loganholme and Nerang, with the complete gazetted corridor set to run 45km between the Logon Motorway and the Pacific Motorway (M1).
The new motorway is being built to support the rapidly growing Logan and norther Gold Coast area, delivering an alternative route to the M1.
However, the $24 million development land for the corridor is also an important habitat for the local south east Queensland koala population.
The newly secured Greenridge property at Pimpama, sits within the Gold Coast Koala Priority Area and is adjacent to the Pimpama River Conservation Area (PRCA), establishing a combined 900-hectares of protect land for the vulnerable koala population.
“Securing the land demonstrates our commitment to improving environmental outcomes of building the second M1,” said Annastacia Palaszczuk, premier.
The government has recently faced criticised after a budget estimates hearing last week found $2.7 million in public funding that had been earmarked for the creation of a wildlife research centre at Dreamworld was instead greenlit to spend on a new rollercoaster.
While the government has also reported to committing $24.6 million in this year’s budget to restore koala habitat and protect populations, the Coomera Connect project is part of a larger $5 billion investment into the area.
The government has also secured another nearly 400-hectare site in Tabooba, where koalas are already present.
“Most of that land at Tabooba will be used to offset the environmental impacts of the 16-kilometre stage one of the Coomera Connector (Coomera-Nerang).So a larger part of the Pimpama property can be used to offset future stages,” said Palaszczuk.
$500,000 of the funding for the project, that is costing the federal and state government a shared $2.163 billion for the first stage alone, has also been allocated to support vaccination trials research to improve the health of koalas in the corridor.
