DDEC has just released a new report to Toowoomba Regional Council calling for council to work with DDEC on improving the planning framework, code and mapping to ensure that the proposed TLPI achieves its intention of protecting significant trees. The report also details the options for protecting individual significant trees just as is done in numerous other local government areas within SEQ.

Access a copy of the report here. 

Summary of the report

This report critically evaluates the inadequacies of Toowoomba's current planning regime in protecting individual mature trees, highlighting that it primarily addresses broader ecological areas rather than focusing on solitary significant trees. It emphasizes the unique ecological, environmental, social, and cultural benefits that individual mature trees provide—such as supporting biodiversity, sequestering carbon, enhancing community identity, and preserving cultural heritage.

Through a comparative analysis of policies from other local governments—including Brisbane City Council, Ipswich City Council, Logan City Council, Gold Coast City Council, and particularly Moreton Bay Regional Council—the report identifies best practices for individual tree protection. These practices involve establishing clear criteria for determining tree significance, implementing robust assessment procedures that require ecological reports and habitat management plans, enforcing compliance through substantial penalties and mandatory environmental offsets, and actively engaging the community through nomination processes and public consultations.

The report recommends that Toowoomba adopt these best practices to enhance its protection of individual mature trees. By integrating specific criteria for tree significance, enhancing assessment procedures, strengthening enforcement mechanisms, and fostering community engagement, Toowoomba can preserve its natural heritage for future generations. Such actions will improve ecological sustainability, uphold cultural and historical values, and enhance the quality of life for its residents.

This report also includes in the appendix a copy of the letter sent to the Mayor and Councillors on the 8th of October that raises attention to significant limitations of the Areas of Ecologically Significance Area mapping and overlay code that will need to be addressed for the TLPI to achieve its intended purpose. Darling Downs Environment Council is still awaiting explanations and assurances that these issues will be dealt with by the planning team at Toowoomba Regional Council. 

Recommendations

To enhance the protection of individual mature trees in Toowoomba, the council should adopt effective policy elements from other regions. 

This would include:

• Developing clear criteria for identifying significant trees based on factors like size, age, rarity, ecological importance, and cultural or historical value, along with creating a Significant Tree Register for systematic documentation. 
• Integrating tree protection into the development approval process is crucial by mandating pre-development assessments by qualified arborists, imposing conditions such as Tree Protection Zones, and requiring permits for any removal or alteration of significant trees to ensure preservation from the outset. 
• Strengthening enforcement mechanisms by adjusting penalties to effectively deter illegal removal, the use of Vegetation Protection Orders, implementing restoration orders for remedial actions, and establishing regular monitoring to enhance compliance. 
• Enhancing community engagement through education initiatives, allowing residents to nominate trees for the register, and collaborating with local groups to foster stewardship and support for new policies.
• Allocating adequate resources for policy implementation, aligning local policies with state legislation, and promoting sustainable urban planning practices that prioritize the preservation of mature trees will further bolster protection efforts. 

By adopting these measures, Toowoomba can significantly improve the safeguarding of its mature trees, preserving their myriad benefits for current and future generations.

In addition, to ensure the TLPI is implemented in a way that is in line with the intention of the Council and the aspirations of the community the following points as outlined in DDEC’s recent letter are listed as recommendations to address the issues within the Environmental Significance Overlay Code and Areas of Ecological Significance Mapping in the Toowoomba Regional Planning Scheme:

1. Strengthen Performance Outcomes
   Revise the performance outcomes to eliminate loopholes that allow developers excessive discretion. This will help prevent significant vegetation clearing prior to the lodging of Development Applications.
2. Clarify Assessment Benchmarks
   Introduce clearer and more objective assessment benchmarks to reduce the potential for subjective interpretation. This will ensure that alternative methods proposed by developers do not compromise the protection of sensitive environmental areas.
3. Enhance Protections for High-Significance Areas
   Provide strict protections for areas of high conservation value by limiting development flexibility in these zones to ensure their ecological integrity is maintained.
4. Expand and Enforce Buffer Zones
   Increase the size of buffer zones between developments and environmentally significant areas, and enforce these standards to prevent habitat encroachment.
5. Define and Enforce Mitigation Measures
   Establish clear guidelines for acceptable mitigation measures and enforce strict compliance to ensure that environmental losses are adequately compensated.
6. Apply Overlay to Entire Properties
   Require that the Environmental Significance Overlay be applied comprehensively across entire sites rather than portions, to prevent habitat fragmentation and maintain the effectiveness of environmental protections.
7. Update Areas of Ecological Significance Mapping
   Conduct a comprehensive review and update of the Areas of Ecological Significance Mapping to include all significant habitats, particularly those classified as Matters of Local Environmental Significance.