Full Text of Petition to NSW Parliament

There are two ways you can sign the petition.

• Download the petition kit (all signatures will be tabled in NSW parliament)
• Sign the online petition (all submissions will be presented to the Minister for Environment and Lee Evans MP)

Full text below:

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled.

The Petition of the residents of Bundeena and the citizens of New South Wales,

Brings to the attention of the House that a 5.6 hectare property known as “The Boy Scouts’ Camp” comprising untouched and undeveloped natural bushland located in the valley known as “Spring Gully” and which neighbours the Royal National Park to the east, south and west and the township of Bundeena to the north, and which is owned by Scouts Australia (NSW), is currently advertised for sale, placing the bushland, the surrounding Royal National Park and the wetlands of the Bundeena creek flood zone under the threat of adverse impacts from potential development.

The “Boy Scouts’ Camp” property sits nested into the Royal National Park like the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. It is the only part of the Spring Gully creek and wetlands that is not part of the Royal National Park.

The “Boy Scouts’ Camp” property was donated to the Scouts sometime around 1963 by Mr George Eric Mobbs, nurseryman and council alderman of Castle Hill. The Scouts have never used the site and it remains untouched and undeveloped.

Spring Gully is a known habitat for many protected species including swamp wallaby, echidna, powerful owl, water dragon, goanna, diamond python, grey-headed flying-fox, tortoise and frogs. It is also a habitat for migratory birds such as the Channel Billed Cuckoo, Japanese Snipe and Koel.

Spring Gully is known to contain several documented sites of aboriginal heritage (there are seven known sites within 100 metres of the property) and the property itself may contain sites of aboriginal heritage.

Development of the property under private ownership would adversely impact on the natural habitat of the diverse wildlife living in Spring Gully, the amenity of the adjoining Royal National Park and the wetlands of Spring Gully which form part of the Bundeena Creek flood plains.

Spring Gully is identified as bushfire prone land. The National Parks and Wildlife Service fire management plan for Bundeena warns that “Spring Gully is dangerous in extreme wildfire conditions”. The land is not suitable for development and should be managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The undersigned petitioners therefore ask the Legislative Assembly to ensure that the land known as the “Boy Scout’s Camp”, Bundeena, and the surrounding environment, be protected and conserved by acquiring the ‘”Boy Scouts’ Camp” property, protecting it from development, and adding it to the adjoining Royal National Park.