A Glossy Black Cockatoo music video is the latest tool to be used in the fight by conservationists to save the habitat that has been approved by Noosa Council for a Uniting Church aged care home and retirement village to house 260 people at Grasstree Court, Sunrise Beach.
Professional songstress Mish Shell offered her expertise to help Sunshine Beach students and parents create the Glossy Song which they plan to record at a Belli Park studio offered by recording artist Ravind Sangha before it is uploaded to Youtube and social media platforms.
“I was asked to come along. It’s good to be a part of it, to contribute in any way I can to make this world a better place,“ said Mish who was assisted by co-writer Mark Gerrett.
Beginning with a melody, Mish encouraged students and their parents to contribute their ideas and within a couple of hours a song had been created.
“I’m of the strong belief anyone can write a song,“ she said.
Last Sunday a group gathered at Grasstree Court to rehearse before a recording session next week.
“The rehearsal was a great way for us to get ready for the day of recording as it’s a big thing, especially for someone who hasn’t had any experience in a studio,“ Mish said. “It’s also a great opportunity for kids and parents alike to do something that’s fun, but also good for humanity and Mother Earth.“
Led by 10-year-old wildlife warrior Spencer Hitchen and his mother Maxine, the Glossy Black Sunrise team has worked fervently to retain the Sunrise Beach habitat, containing 104 mature glossy feed trees and is regularly visited by about 30 of the rare birds, from clearing to develop a 102-bed residential aged care home and retirement village.
Having secured more than 51,000 signatures on a petition to support the retention of the habitat, Spencer and Maxine two months ago attended Noosa Council’s Ordinary Meeting to stand up for the rights of the glossies and voice their concerns at the efficacy of a proposed “offset site” planted with trees that will take years to mature and may not produce trees suitable to the glossies that are very selective feeders.
They also requested Council consider a land swap with the Uniting Church between the proposed development site and a suitable Council-owned site.
Mayor Clare Stewart responded to them by saying council would be willing to enter into a discussion with Uniting Church Australia about a land swap if the church wished to discuss such a proposal.
Council confirmed their planning officers recently met with Blue Care to discuss the community’s suggestion of a potential land swap.
“Council officers told Blue Care that there was limited land owned by council that may be suitable for the development and free of environmental constraints, however, if they were genuinely interested, council would undertake further work to identify if a suitable site existed,“ council confirmed in a statement.
“Blue Care Group general manager for property advised council that a land swap was not practical given the significant investment into the current design and approvals.”
Uniting Care property group manager Lavinia Dack said the precinct design had been adapted to retain more than 20 per cent of site vegetation identified in their Ecological Management Plan which was available on the Noosa Council website.
She said the development would be staged to meet the community’s request, resulting in a reduction in the extent of vegetation clearing at one point in time, giving the trees they are replanting at a ratio of 8:1 on the nearby three hectare rehabilitation site at Girraween Nature Refuge more time to mature.
“Clearing and construction of the residential aged care home on Lot 6 of 9 Grasstree Court, Sunrise Beach will now occur before clearing of Lot 9 where the adjacent retirement village is destined to go.”
Ms Dack said Blue Care was committing more than $500K towards land rehabilitation works on Noosa Shire Council-owned land at the nearby Girraween Nature Refuge over the next five years to support habitat creation and carbon capture in Noosa Biosphere. More than four hectares of land surrounding the precinct site had been dedicated to conservation as part of the purchase process with Noosa Shire Council, providing valuable habitat connectivity to Girraween Nature Refuge, she said. Ms Dack said Blue Care has been advised no glossy black cockatoo nesting trees were on the precinct site and a local cockatoo drinking site was also not on the precinct site.
Maxine said Glossy Team Sunrise’s efforts had recently been recognised by international conservation group, the Jane Goodall Institute, which applauded their work to retain a habitat described as being of international significance.
Maxine said she held concerns for the mental health and hopes for the future of the environment of the many children from the nearby schools who had come to know the site and its population of Glossy Black Cockatoos if the habitat was lost to development.
