By ALEX HARRIS
LOOKING at the koala sightings reported to KoalaTracker.com.au from Tewantin over the past few weeks, a clear corridor becomes evident.
One that puts koalas in imminent danger, not just from the busy roads crossed, but from the pockets of trees which provide food and shelter now, that will soon and inevitably be lost to small subdivisions.
As have other such havens already become – new housing estates of one or two streets tucked in among the old, in old Tewantin.
Lush trees fresh with scratches will give way to bulldozers, to lifeless brick and tile, flat fences barring the current course, and more bitumen criss-crossing the corridor on which our koalas will be killed.
As the demand for housing increases, long-held large blocks of land and the magnificent trees upon them will be sacrificed.
With loss of habitat the biggest killer of koalas, I find myself contemplating an alternative town plan.
Not to stop development, but to encourage smaller footprints, dreaded higher density with fewer houses and more townhouses, and that long-feared upward movement, rather than ever outward sprawl.
A town plan bursting with clever design that provides amenity and aesthetics, and encompasses the homes of our wildlife neighbours rather than obliterates them.
Perhaps we should hold a contest for our local design students, observers and professionals alike, that challenges us to ‘develop’ the allotments left and showcase what could be done, rather than what always has and surely will be done.
And with that, let us have a reasonable debate on lifting the building height, on building fewer houses, while creating more homes.
Because we right now have a choice – to continue to bulldoze the trees, or to keep what remains of green space and develop further where development already exists.
Not everywhere; not to skyscraper level; not endless tall boxes, but perhaps a limited quantity and specified quality of taller residential or mixed use development would ultimately be the lesser evil.
In the existing urban centres of Noosa Junction (bowls club to Cooyar along Lanyana Way), Noosaville (Gibson Rd retail precinct to Elizabeth between Weyba Road and Albert), and Tewantin township itself, we have an opportunity to go up ever so slightly, with minimal impact to the wider neighbourhood.
The reality is we have a rapidly increasing demand for smaller single level homes from an ageing and downsizing resident population who wants to remain in the area in which they currently live.
I for one would like to accommodate that without the loss of any more critical habitat in such an important koala corridor.
