AN urgent review to strengthen wildlife corridors in the urban parts of Redlands has been held over until September.
Focus is on better protection for wildlife corridors through statutory land use planning to ensure wildlife can cross urban areas.
Cr Wendy Boglary has pushed for the review as state koala mapping covered only vegetated areas, not habitat corridors.
Cr Boglary said she was disappointed the issue was bogged down as it was causing community concern.
Council officers have completed a review but say further work to support the amendment is needed before it is released. Work includes a communication plan for residents.
During a heated discussion at last week's council meeting, Cr Julie Talty was successful in overthrowing a rural environmental corridor protection move by Cr Boglary.
Cr Boglary had called for a review on options to provide better land use planning protection in rural areas.
"The motion was to treat rural and urban areas as the same... but they are not," Cr Talty said. "People in urban areas can clear 100 per cent of their lot up to 1000 square metres or less, if we treat them both the same, the rural residents will have the same 1000 allowance."
She said rural residents carried the burden of the rest of the city. "The real issue is in the urban areas," she said.
Cr Boglary said environmental corridors were like cobwebs across the landscape and not a blanket approach. "It's not about taking land owners rights away. The intent of the protection was always to be across the whole of the city to ensure the sustainability of many wildlife species," she said.
Cr Boglary said before the adoption of the new City Plan in 2018, the importance of core habitats and corridors was stressed in the previous Redlands Planning Scheme.
Mayor Karen Williams said she had always maintained that the wildlife corridor plan was not meant to be further green tape for residents.
Cr Boglary said an amendment package would allow further investigation into corridors, policies to work with landowners and community consultation.
"The mayor asked me, and other councillors to trust her before the City Plan was adopted in 2018 and gave her commitment that the City Wildlife Connection Plan would be in the first amendment package, however she continues to vote repeatedly against proceeding with a city wide amendment package," she said.
Cr Williams said Cr Boglary's comment was misleading.
"Most councillors would clearly understand that no one councillor can autonomously guarantee an amendment to any planning scheme. It is a democratic process and the option to adopt the further green tape amendment to the City Plan was put forward, considered by all of council, and democratically defeated," she said.
Crs Karen Williams, Mark Edwards, Rowanne McKenzie, Peter Mitchell, Julie Talty and Paul Golle voted to repeal Cr Boglary's motion.