Warrawee Substation - Review of Environmental Factors

Assessment of the environmental impacts and risksbat) are considered to have the potential to occur at the site on an occasional oropportunistic basis, but habitats at the site would be unlikely to be important for theconservation of these species in the locality. These species are discussed inAppendix B.Migratory faunaThe site has little value for migratory species given the lack of continuous vegetationor significant habitat resources such as wetland areas or abundant fruiting and/orflowering plants. Two species of migratory birds listed under the EPBC Act wereidentified as having the potential to occur at the site, both the Fork-tailed Swift andWhite-throated Needletail are almost exclusively aerial in Australia. Individuals ofthese species may forage in aerial habitats over the site but would be unlikely to land.Both species breed in the northern hemisphere.3.2.3 Impact assessmentVegetation and habitat clearanceThe proposal would not remove any areas of native or native regrowth vegetation.The small strip of native understorey species along the edge of the railway cutting inthe north of the site would not be cleared for the proposal, this area would be fencedoff from construction activities and retained.Most of the planted trees along the fence line north of the northern Brentwood Avenueaccess are to be removed as part of RailCorp’s maintenance programs, as theyoverhang neighbouring properties and power lines.The current proposal would involve clearing small areas of exotic vegetation,predominately composed of exotic grasses, climbers and dense thickets of Lantanaand other weeds. It may also result in the removal of a small number of exotic streettrees not removed as part of maintenance activities. This vegetation has minimalhabitat value for native fauna and its removal would be highly unlikely to affect thepersistence of local populations of any native fauna species.Indirect impactsIndirect impacts on areas of native vegetation as a result of the proposal are unlikely:the site is bordered to the east and west by rail infrastructure and streets or residentialareas, and slopes away from planted native vegetation to the north. Vegetation to thesouth of the site (downslope) consists of dense weed thickets with few native plants.The proposal has the potential to impact on water quality in the unnamed drainageline to the south of the site during construction through altered hydrology and transferof sediments. These impacts would be minimised through control measures inSections 3.1.3, 3.2.4 and 3.3.3.Formalising drainage line would improve water quality in this drainage line duringoperation by reducing erosion and transport of sediment to the waterway.Warrawee Substation Project/Review of Environmental FactorsPage 23 of 64