Endangered trees, powerful owls and historic scout halls have emerged as new frontlines in the battle over the future of HMAS Penguin as environmental and heritage assessments threaten to complicate the federal government’s plan to sell sections of the prime waterfront site in Sydney’s north.
An independent ecological assessment commissioned by Mosman Council has identified 16 threatened plant and animal species within the Middle Head defence precinct, raising questions about the site’s development potential and the environmental and planning hurdles facing any private buyer.
HMAS Penguin is among 68 Department of Defence sites across Australia earmarked for partial or full sale under the federal government’s plan to raise up to $1.8 billion towards new military programs. Other Sydney sites listed for sale include Victoria Barracks in Paddington and Spectacle Island on Sydney Harbour.
The ecological study by consultancy Biosis found the 16-hectare precinct supported endangered swift parrots alongside vulnerable fauna including the powerful owl, white-bellied sea eagle, eastern pygmy possum, eastern osprey and several threatened bat species.
Recorded flora includes sunshine wattle, magenta lilly pilly and the endangered Nielsen Park she-oak, a flowering plant found only in Sydney.
The findings have bolstered Mosman Council’s push to retain the site in public ownership amid fears a sale could pave the way for redevelopment of one of Sydney’s last large publicly owned waterfront defence sites.
Those concerns have been echoed by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, based next to HMAS Penguin at Chowder Bay, which has released a submission opposing the sale due to potential impacts on its conservation works.
Brett Fenton, the institute’s chief operating officer, said sensitive marine habitats at risk included endangered seagrass meadows, populations of White’s seahorse and endangered cauliflower soft coral.
“These are ecosystems we have been working for years to protect, and when you consider potential impacts from development such as construction and stormwater run-off, the consequences, particularly for seagrasses, could be severe,” he said.
University of Sydney professor of urban and regional planning Nicole Gurran said species protected under state and federal environmental laws could complicate any redevelopment of the site due to requirements for detailed environmental assessments, mitigation measures and approvals.
“It wouldn’t necessarily mean you couldn’t develop the site for purposes such as housing but it could limit the extent to which development occurs in certain parts of the site, or include conditions on what can be built,” she said.
Mosman Council has also commissioned a heritage assessment that could add further restrictions. Buildings under consideration include the Balmoral Sea Scout Hall and Mosman Bay Scout Hall, a former whaling station built in 1831.
Mosman Mayor Ann Marie Kimber said the environmental and heritage values strengthened the case for the site to remain in public hands.
“HMAS Penguin already faces significant constraints – even the road that leads down to that site is heritage-listed and can’t be widened – and there doesn’t seem to have been any thought about that when the government decided to sell it,” she said.
A Department of Finance spokeswoman said environmental and heritage merits would be evaluated as part of the divestment process, adding that “no final decisions on timing or approach have been made”.
Kimber has written to NSW Premier Chris Minns seeking support for retaining the land in public ownership, potentially through a transfer to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.
Former trust deputy executive director Nick Hollo backed the proposal, saying “a lack of funding should not prevent it being transferred to an agency capable of managing it for the public benefit”.
Retired Major General Gus McLachlan, who is among residents leading a community effort to protect the site, said the value of the location, which dates to 1842, would grow as Sydney’s population placed open space and harbour access under increased pressure.
“The land belongs to the community and should be kept in public hands, not handed over to private interests,” he said.
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