Resident cops huge fine for clearing trees on council land
The Shire of Waroona has prosecuted a man for clearing or substantially trimming native bushland without council approval in the latter half of last year.
The area covered at least 1000sqm of remnant bushland within an environmentally sensitive area, home to endangered plant and animal species.
The council said the mechanical trimming and hot burn impacted vegetation, including black cockatoo foraging habitat (marri and banksia trees) and grasstrees which were splitting open and subsequently dying from the heat of the burn. There was also clearing or substantial trimming of native shrubs and ground covers.
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Craig Wilson Donohue appeared in Mandurah Magistrates Court last Tuesday and pleaded guilty to carrying out development in an area the subject of a local planning scheme.
He was fined $25,000.
The bushland he cleared was on his Forrington Heights property and part of the Shire of Waroona-managed road reserve next to it.
The prosecutor acting on behalf of the shire said while the scale of Donohue's clearing was quite significant, the impact was more significant due to the animals that may have been living in the native trees he cleared.
She said his actions were not a 'flagrant' breach.
'We accept the accused was somewhat inadvertent,' she said.
'The accused ought to have known this was an environmentally secured area.'
Donohue said he was trying to do the 'right thing' by removing barbed wire and fencing materials that were a 'danger to native animals'.
He also claimed the area was infested with the invasive South African weed Watsonia, alongside deadly nightshade and cottonbush, which wouldn't allow the native fauna to flourish.
Donohue promised to plant 200 plants in the area over the next two years to assist in re-vegetation.
Magistrate Leanne Atkins said Donohue should have known better than to clear the area without approval and there would be a significant penalty.
'You've impacted the environment and the native flora and fauna,' Ms Atkins said.
She fined Donohue $25,000 and ordered him to pay $1500 in costs to the Shire of Waroona.
Ms Atkins granted him a spent conviction.
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