'Distressing' sight on Aussie road as council accused of wildlife 'carnage'
Work described as 'carnage' was momentarily stopped after dead animals were found, but it commenced the following day.
WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: As the country faces a housing shortage the need for development has never been more necessary but recent construction work linked to new homes has Aussies questioning at what cost, with one council accused of having an "utter disregard" for local wildlife.
There are fears shocking images of dead birds and squashed turtle carcasses only scratch the surface in terms of the damage a dam upgrade in Sydney's Rouse Hill has inflicted on local wildlife, with a myriad of species either injured or killed from the construction work.
The dewatering of the dam commenced at the end of last month and locals report the wildlife impact was "severe" and "distressing", with advocates and the community alike condemning the council, accusing it of doing little to protect the animals.
"We were seeing trucks there that were loaded to the hilt with mud… they were scraping the mud out of the dam with turtles and yabbies and god knows what else left to just suffocate and die," WIRES rescuer Sandra Finlay told Yahoo News after she visited the site.
"There were two moorhens [birds] that had been hit on the side of the road who I’d just seen sitting on the top of the dam edge… they had been looking confused and they obviously tried to cross the road," she said. "It was carnage."
Dam work was momentarily halted by council
It is currently unclear why wildlife impact was so severe given an on-site ecologist was present during the work— a requirement for work approval. The Hills Shire Council told Yahoo News it intervened with the work and "directed the project manager to stop all works on site immediately".
"Council attended the site and became aware of several dead turtles near the dam," a spokesperson said. "Council is now investigating the matter with the site supervisor and ecologist and will consider whether further action is required."
However Yahoo News understands the work restarted the following day. The council provided no further comment on what wildlife protection measures or alternative action was taken before recommencing the work.
"I don't think it's ignorance, because they obviously knew they had to do something because they said they had an ecologist out there on site," Sandra said.
'Simple' solution could provide win-win situation
Having wildlife volunteers on-site to relocate animals would be an easy win-win solution to the problem yet there is growing belief that those involved in infrastructure work simply "don't care" about wildlife impact.
"All it would take is volunteers being out there and pop the animals in a basket, walk them across the road and release them over the other side," Sandra said. "There's such a lack of consideration when it's quite a simple solution… the people that are doing it just don't care."
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NSW projects do not have to adhere to Fauna Management Plans like other states but instead are given guidelines to minimise construction-related wildlife impact — something that advocates are calling to be mandated.
"Wildlife needs to be able to trust that we're not going to just come in and squash everything in our pathway," Sandra said.
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