The $2 million grant is fantastic news for Tweed’s koalas. It’s a great testament to the hard work of the community and the council’s environment officers in making this an issue, and to federal Labor for recognising the enormous community angst about possibly losing the coastal koalas.
This funding will bring money into the Tweed and green jobs.
But the most important thing really is the decisions that are made on developments affecting koalas.
The federal government have advised that they could now consider koalas in the Kings Forest development as they are still waiting on information from the developer.
The grant is for a four-year period so $500,000 per year is not exactly a goldmine, and it’s not as if the problem is solved. It’s only the value of about four properties on the coast. It won’t be able to fund land purchases or koala bridges across roads, but it’s much better than the $80,000 that was all Tweed Shire Council could rustle up for koalas in this next year’s budget.
The grant will focus on restoring the coastal habitats and corridors that have been devastated by poor planning practices and is sorely needed for the handful of only 144 koalas left on the coast.
Cr Katie Milne, Tweed Shire Council
