A Northern-Tasmanian mayor has hit back at claims that the necessary federal environmental approval had not been lodged by his council regarding a proposed residential development.
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George Town mayor Greg Kieser and his fellow councillors were urged last week by Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson to "do the right thing" and vote against plans to approve a development in Low Head.
Mr Whish-Wilson said the Greens believed the land provided habitat to a range of threatened species, including the Tasmanian devil, eastern barred bandicoot and eastern quoll.
Despite Mr Whish-Wilson's plea, the motion approving the development was passed unanimously.
Cr Kieser said the decision made by the planning authority was a "no brainer".
"It's a paddock with introduced grass species for the purposes of grazing, so the environmental value is dubious at best," he said.
"It is zoned residential as it stands, and is surrounded by residential homes, so I can't see any grounds the decision could be challenged on, but if someone did want to challenge it, then they would have to go through other avenues."
The Greens claimed Environment Minister Sussan Ley had not responded to calls from the community to refer the project for assessment under federal legislation.
Mr Whish-Wilson said Ms Ley should actively intervene in projects that pose any risk to the nation's threatened species.
"The Tasmanian devil is threatened by a cumulative loss of its habitat from land clearing, inappropriate development, and from forestry and mining in our wild areas, yet time and time again we see inappropriate developments progress without necessary federal environmental approvals," he said.
"This isn't about shutting down development, but rather making sure it happens in the right place - and Tasmanian devil habitat is not the right place."
He also claimed Ms Ley was considering removing Tasmanian devils from the list of species requiring a recovery plan.
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