BUNBURY OUTER RING ROAD —
SOUTHERN SECTION
1075. Hon DIANE EVERS to the minister representing the
Minister for Transport:
I refer to the Bunbury Outer Ring
Road project southern corridor, and the minister's response on 6 June
2019 to petition 105.
(1) Who conducted
the regional surveys of the critically endangered western ringtail possum?
(2) Will the
minister please table the surveys and final report; and, if not, why not?
(3) Were any
specific studies conducted on the population numbers within the proposed BORR
route itself; and, if yes, will the minister please table the results?
(4) What impact
is the BORR expected to have on the population in the proposed BORR route?
(5) What steps
will the department take to protect the population in the proposed BORR route,
given that the western ringtail possum is a critically endangered species; has
the DBCA been consulted on these steps; and, does this fit with the western
ringtail possum recovery plan?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided by the
Minister for Transport.
(1) It was
specialist consultants engaged by Main Roads.
(2) The report
can be tabled once updated to reflect additional environmental surveys and once
the peer review process has concluded.
(3) Studies will
be included with environmental referrals for the project—noting that
this question was asked on 4 September—which are expected to be
submitted during September 2019, and can be tabled at that time.
(4) This will be
considered as part of the environmental assessment process.
(5) This will be
considered as part of the environmental assessment process. DBCA will be
consulted and the western ringtail possum recovery plan will be considered as part
of this process.