Blue Whale says the land was cleared for firebreaks and to make it more trafficable.A magistrates court has fined a company $141,000 for illegally clearing nine Perth stadiums' worth of shire-owned land in south-west WA.
A plantation operator has been fined $141,000 for illegally clearing around 16 hectares of native bush in south-west WA — an area equivalent to nine Perth stadiums. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation notified the shire after they noticed the clearing on satellite images.Supplied: Shire of Augusta Margaret RiverThe Bunbury Magistrates Court heard the company cleared the land for firebreaks and to make the area more trafficable."What has occurred has been interrupted and the true extent of the clearing is not a matter that I can be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt," he said.
There was "every indication" more land would have been cleared had they not been interrupted, according to the magistrate."Damage to the environment … cannot easily be rectified," he said.Magistrate Sullivan acknowledged there was significant public interest in deterring other companies from repeating similar offences, in order to preserve the natural landscape.