Residents push for change
Wildlife groups rally for koalas
DOZENS of people packed the CUA Community Hub yesterday as activists from a number of organisations joined in a sign of unity against the destruction of koala habitat in the region.
Highlighting the role developments across Toowoomba played in the dwindling numbers of the protected species, members of the World Wide Fund for Nature implored residents to make their vote count at the next federal election.
“We need to hold the government accountable,” WWF’s Gemma Plessman told those in attendance.
“When we come together in rooms like this we can create great change.”
Save Mouny Lofty, the group fighting against a 342-lot Defence Housing Australia development, was joined by the Wilderness Society, Wildlife Toowoomba and the Darling Downs Environment Committee calling for a halt on development.
The DHA proposal has seen widespread protest in the two years since it was first announced, although the Federal Government body has previously told The Chronicle it “engaged with ecologist consultants to assess the ecological values on sites and identify existing wildlife and continue to undertake further studies.”
“I have rescued hundreds of koalas over the years,” wildlife carer Claire Gover said to the crowd.
“The New England Highway has been a hot-spot for dead koalas.
“All around Toowoomba and Highfields there is a lot of development ... it may not seem like much but what happens when a koala is removed from a tree.