A Suffolk Park lake, ranked as the number one source of pollution into Tallow Creek, is yet to see any work to improve its health, eight years after a management plan was first drafted.
A staff report in the October Byron Shire Council meeting noted the ongoing poor water quality in Baywood Chase Lake, which drains downstream into Tallow Creek estuary in Arakwal National Park.
A 2023 study by Hydrosphere Consulting, part of Council’s Coastal Management Program work, ranked the lake as the top pollution source into the estuary.
In the meeting, council also noted that ‘no action has been undertaken’ on the lake since Australian Wetlands Consulting first drafted a management plan in 2018.
Why the lake isn’t in the management plan
On behalf of Suffolk Park Community Association, Kelly Minahan asked councillors what basis decided that management work on the lake ‘falls outside the scope’ of its 2026-27 Operational Plans to ‘Monitor and maintain coastal natural and built assets in the coastal zone’.
Director of Sustainable Environment and Economy, Shannon Burt, in the meeting, acknowledged that the Tallow Creek Management Plan had fallen ‘significantly behind its original timeline’, but said standalone management options for the lake were not included in the current Coastal Management Programs that were being ‘undertaken in priority order.’
‘As the Open Coast and Belongil Estuary Management Programs are of a higher priority than the Tallow Creek, it is unlikely to be completed or adopted in the next 12 months,’ she said.
Draft plan withdrawn
A council addendum prepared by Coastal and Biodiversity Coordinator, Chloe Dowsett, declared the 2023 Hydrosphere draft plan ‘redundant’ after inconsistencies were found and the budget was expended, with the lake’s options now to be considered in stage three of the Tallow Creek Coastal Management Program.
‘Options for improvement of Baywood Chase Lake are considered more wholistically in relation to management options to improve environmental health and biodiversity outcomes for the whole of the catchment,’ she said in the addendum.
In September, Mayor, Sarah Ndiaye reported a meeting with Councilor Jack Dods, Suffolk Park Community Association and members of Byron Bird Buddies, where she said council ‘resolved to take steps, including aeration and planting, to improve the area.’
‘It will take time and we need to get funding, but the work has begun,’ she said.
Pet treatment chemicals concern
Byron Environment Centre’s Cat and Dog Compliance Committee convenor John Lazarus asked whether the lake had been assessed for contamination from fipronil and imidacloprid, chemicals he said are banned as agricultural pesticides but used in pet flea and tick treatments in Australia.
Coastal and Biodiversity Coordinator Chloe Dowsett said Council has no data confirming the ‘presence, concentration or environmental significance’ of such compounds in the lake, though broader water quality issues had been investigated.
She said Council may consider further investigation ‘should evidence emerge indicating a likely risk.’
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