Mount Coolum Golf Club Tree Approval Turns On Wildlife Checks Before Work Starts

Approved vegetation works at Mount Coolum Golf Club will have to clear a wildlife test before crews begin cutting. Sunshine Coast Council has approved the removal of 11 trees and pruning or monitoring work on another 11, but the decision includes conditions requiring checks for animals and protection for native stingless bees.

Council says the work relates to the club's annual vegetation maintenance program and targets trees described as dead, dying or declining. The application followed an arboricultural assessment commissioned by the club to identify trees that may pose risks to public safety, buildings, infrastructure or the field of play.

The environmental context is the reason the decision has attracted attention. Part of the property is mapped as a Core Koala Habitat Area, although council says the approved works are confined to the northern portion of the site and do not affect that mapped koala habitat area. Other vegetation on the site sits within biodiversity overlay mapping.

Council's assessment found no significant impact on retained ecological values and did not identify trees approved for removal or pruning as containing confirmed koala habitat, breeding places or hollows. No koalas, protected fauna, breeding places or native bee hives were identified during the council assessment.

The approval still adds safeguards because conditions on paper have to survive the reality of a worksite. Before any vegetation removal or pruning, all trees, including retained trees with overlapping canopy, must be inspected for wildlife such as koalas, possums and birds. If wildlife is present, work cannot proceed until the animal has moved on or is relocated by a qualified fauna spotter-catcher.

Native stingless bee hives receive specific treatment. If hives from the Tetragonula or Austroplebeia groups are found during clearing, they must be recovered and moved into adjacent retained vegetation. Damaged hives must be boxed up for later relocation.

The approval also requires a qualified person to supervise tree protection so vegetation meant to remain is not damaged. Stumps must stay in place or be ground down rather than removed, reducing ground disturbance, erosion and sediment concerns.

The decision shows the kind of trade-off local land managers increasingly face. A golf course has to manage safety and playability, but work near mapped environmental values carries obligations beyond tidiness. The next public-interest test will be whether the conditions are followed cleanly when the work moves from assessment documents to saws, spotters and crews on site.