Opposition to Oyster Harbour Housing Development The Oyster Harbour development is a joint venture between developers Heath Development Company and the Department of Housing and Works and will be the largest single residential land construction in the Great Southern, comprised of up to 2,600 lots. The development site currently consists of 110 hectares of bushland that includes a range of habitats such as wetlands, laterite hills and a rare ecological community containing the Albany Banksia (Banksia coccinea). Seven priority flora and one declared rare flora (DRF) are also present. Furthermore, this large area of vegetation provides an important corridor between the Bayonet head foreshore reserves and the Bill Gibbs reserve providing connectivity in an already highly fragmented landscape. The importance of connectivity of vegetation is widely documented, with many agencies and conservation groups currently attempting to link reserves (DEC, Gondwana link etc). The importance of these corridors in terms of providing access for species migration etc in the face of climate change may yet prove to be unprecedented. The proposed development will result in the majority of this parcel of bush to be cleared except for a few "islands" of vegetation that will have very poor long term value for flora and fauna. Given the large availability of already cleared land in the Albany Region suitable for housing (approximately 66% is already cleared) and the high conservation values of this site, this proposed development is completely unnecessary.

Given the significance of this area and its contribution to the dwindling natural areas in the suburbs of Albany, I sign this petition to demonstrate my strong opposition to the clearing of this land.

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