AN EMERALD resident has called for the Shire of Cardinia to put a fence around two endangered plants which were discovered by shire officers several months ago.
Sophie Johnston said she felt that the council was not doing enough to protect the plant which is known as the Emerald star bush.
Ms Johnston said there was only eight other populations of the Emerald star bush in Victoria.
She said the council discovered the plants when assessing a planning application for a house which was later refused.
The council’s manager or governance and communication Doug Evans said although the star bush is endangered there seemed to be a healthy population of the plants growing in Emerald.
Mr Evans said the planning application which led to the discovery of the plants was refused because the house was too big for the block of land and approval of the application would have led to the removal of too much native vegetation.
The applicants have been asked to revise their plans and bring them back to the council.
Mr Evans said the area was covered by stringent planning controls to protect the nature of the area and that building designs had to minimise the loss of vegetation.
“The planning controls are there to protect the nature of the area and bushes like the star bush,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ms Johnston said she was concerned that no-one knew about the Emerald star bush’s existence and that protective measure such as a fence should be introduced.
“Everyone should be singing eureka and swinging from the rafters that we have this plant growing in our town but we also need to do something to protect it,” she said.
Ms Johnston was told by the council the bush was protected enough without erecting a fence because it was not visible from the roadside.
Although she respects the expertise of the council, Ms Johnston said that she wishes a fence was put around the star bush as an extra layer of protection.
– Tania Martin
