Port Stephens Council is facing heavy criticism for a proposal that could rezone a vital koala release site at 22 Homestead Street, Salamander Bay, for residential development.
Despite being located within three metres of a prime koala corridor and release site, the proposal could potentially provide 20 new homes.
Port Stephens is home to one of the last remaining koala populations on the east coast, but numbers are in sharp decline, estimated at just 400 wild koalas.
According to Port Stephens Koala Hospital records, 41 koala releases have taken place at Homestead since November 2010, with 22 of those occurring since 2020.
Port Stephens Koala Hospital president Ron Land said the proposed development would create "yet another man-made barrier in a koala corridor."
"It just beggars belief that council or anyone else would even consider allowing such a development to intrude on a koala corridor," he said.
The tragic death of a Koala Hospital favourite, Abu, who was recently killed on Nelson Bay Road while traversing a koala corridor, serves as a sobering example of the existing danger.
"This is an example of why development around the few remaining areas of koala populations needs to be very carefully considered," Mr Land said.
The council is committed to housing delivery, noting the NSW Government's Hunter Regional Plan identifies the need for 11,100 additional homes in Port Stephens by 2041.
The proposal identifies just 7 per cent of the site for housing, with the remaining 93 per cent proposed to be zoned for environmental conservation.
However, conservationists argue that any housing nearby poses a threat due to dogs and increased traffic.
According to Mr Land, there are active koala movements throughout the site and having humans within metres is a threat to the tree-dwelling marsupials.
"The koalas were here first," he said.
"Mature koala feeding trees will be destroyed for the development to go in."
Mr Land describes the site as pristine territory and said a housing development would destroy what little home koalas have left.
Council maintains that future plans would include detailed studies and consultation to ensure the movement corridor is protected.
Strategy and environment section manager Brock Lamont said council is committed to protecting the high environmental value of the area.
"The nearby Stoney Ridge Reserve is an important area of koala habitat and serves as a release site for the Port Stephens Koala Hospital," he said.
The addendum proposal was publicly exhibited from October 9 to November 6, and a report will return to council on December 9 for final consideration.
According to Mr Lamont, the existing licence agreement for koala feed tree planting and harvesting will also continue unchanged.
If council supports the request, the report would be submitted to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for endorsement.
If endorsed, the site would be added to the Housing Supply Plan, enabling a planning proposal to be prepared seeking to rezone the land for residential and conservation purposes.