00:00 This once green patch of private land in Mount Lofty will one day house a developer couple's
00:07 dream home, but the neighbours think it's a nightmare.
00:12 We don't refer to it as clearing anymore, we refer to it as the quarry, as do a lot
00:16 of the locals around the area here, because it just resembles a quarry now.
00:20 The Native Vegetation Council visited the site in December 2021 and found more than
00:26 half a hectare of mess-mate, stringy bark forest had allegedly been cleared, five times
00:32 the area approved.
00:35 An enforcement notice was issued last October, ten months after the site visit, but the former
00:43 Environment Minister says it shouldn't have taken so long.
00:46 I'm going to refer this matter to the Environment, Resources and Development Standing Committee
00:52 of Parliament to have a serious bipartisan independent investigation.
00:58 The enforcement notice prevents further clearing of native vegetation, but neighbours have
01:03 raised complaints with authorities that more land has since been cleared.
01:08 This image shows the property in 2015 when works began.
01:12 This was the site a month after the Native Vegetation Council visited in December 2021,
01:19 and this was four months ago.
01:21 It's quite devastating when you operate a tourism business next door that looks straight
01:25 into this space to just see it diminishing.
01:28 The Native Vegetation Council rejected the neighbours' complaints, saying it hasn't
01:33 detected any native scrub clearance at the site since December 2021.
01:39 The current Environment Minister has told Parliament that any recent land clearing has
01:44 been of non-native species.
01:47 Property owners Stephen and Tiffany Connor didn't respond to requests for comment, but
01:52 they've previously told the ABC they're working with authorities and intend to revegetate
01:58 the land.
01:59 Their ten-year plan to rehabilitate the site was recently approved by the Native Vegetation
02:04 Council.
02:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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