Advice on how to minimise potential negative impacts of, and following on from, the subdivision
What do we mean?
Subdivision activities can have a wide range of impacts on threatened species. 'Subdivision' includes all activities associated with the subdivision of land for residential or other development purposes. The effects of a subdivision can occur well outside the actual footprint of the activity.
General points to consider
- Subdivision is a significant threatening process for many threatened plants and animals, and is a major cause of habitat loss.
- Direct impacts to threatened species of a subdivision can include the partial or total removal of native vegetation, altered drainage works, introduction of weeds and diseases, and damage to waterways.
- Subdivision of a property also involves the potential for on-going impacts after subdivision works are completed. These indirect impacts may extend well beyond the footprint of the subdivided property.
- Additional impacts include predation and disturbance of threatened fauna from an increase in domestic animals, the escape of non-native plants (from gardens, nature strips, etc) into adjacent bushland, on-going noise disturbance to adjacent areas, competition and predation from exotic animals such as rats and mice, and the pollution of waterways through refuse and contaminated run-off.
- Housing developments adjacent to native bush can also lead to an increase in burning through deliberate lighting of fires, as well as inadvertent ignition.
Regulators
The agency most commonly responsible for regulating this activity is listed below (but refer also to the Permits section on the Planning Ahead page):
