A community environment group has launched a legal challenge to scrutinise native forest logging in the hills just 75 kilometres east of Naarm/Melbourne, home to rare possum and glider species on the brink of extinction.
The community group WOTCH (Wildlife of the Central Highlands), through its lawyers at Environmental Justice Australia, has filed a case against the Yarra Ranges Council in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
The group is challenging the council’s decision to approve logging plans at the site in the vicinity of Three Bridges, south of Warburton, under a “zombie” permit*.
This one-sentence logging permit from 1977 has no expiry date. The council is responsible for regulating these operations, yet Victoria’s critical biodiversity laws are being ignored, WOTCH will tell the tribunal.
For pics, please go here.
Property records reveal the forested land is owned by Fennings Investments Pty Ltd, a Victorian logging company, which purchased this high-conservation-value site in 2022 and began logging under the old ‘zombie’ permit.
This case exposes how the use of historic permits risks undermining public trust in Victoria’s forest protections. New logging permits are advertised publicly so the community can have a say. But there’s no requirement to re-advertise before works start up again, even decades later.
Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH) volunteer Steve Meacher says:
‘Leadbeater’s possums don’t recognise human land boundaries – they need healthy, connected forest to survive. Every scrap of their remaining habitat, which is only found in Victoria’s Central Highlands, must be protected to stop them becoming extinct.’
‘Allowing the use of 50-year-old zombie permits undermines public trust in Victoria’s commitment to lasting forest protection.’
‘If we let fifty-year-old permits decide the fate of endangered species how can we hope to prevent their extinction?’
‘Most property owners need a permit to trim a tree, but this company is using an out-of-date one-line approval from 1977 to destroy swathes of forest that unique Australian animals need for survival. How does that make sense?’
Environment Justice Australia senior lawyer Natalie Hogan says:
‘The public expects consistency and integrity in how environmental laws are applied — regardless of whether land is public or private.’
‘This is about accountability. Community groups, like our client, are stepping in where government oversight is falling short.’
Promise vs reality
While the Victorian government officially ended native forest logging in 2024, this court case will expose a growing gap between promise and reality. Instead of logging on public land, some private operators – are continuing to use private forested land for industrial logging, which raises questions about how threatened species will be protected.
Unlike logging on Crown land, logging on private properties often requires only a logging plan and permit from rural and regional councils, which are ill-equipped to assess the ecological impacts of native forest logging.
This case could set an important precedent — helping to expose a major loophole in Victoria’s forest protections and ensuring historical permits aren’t used to bypass environmental laws and avoid proper scrutiny.
The site borders state forest. Citizen scientists from WOTCH have recorded critically endangered Leadbeater’s possums and endangered greater gliders just outside the logging zone. In court they will argue there is a strong likelihood these species also live inside the forested site.
WOTCH members Steve Meacher and Jake McKenzie
‘All habitat critical’
On January 1, 2024, the Victorian Labor government officially ended native forest logging, fulfilling a high-profile commitment then-Premier Daniel Andrews made in May 2023.
This decision followed a landmark supreme court judgement that the state-owned logging agency VicForests had broken the law by failing to protect endangered species. The judgement in this case highlighted the importance of forest protection:
“Given the current Critically Endangered status of Leadbeater’s possum, and its predicted severe ongoing decline, including significant risks of extinction, all current and prospective suitable habitat is critical for its survival, and necessary for its recovery” (Friends of Leadbeater's Possum Inc v VicForests (No 4) [2020] FCA 704)
The government has committed $1.5 billion in public funds to compensate affected businesses and support a transition to plantation-based forestry.
*’Zombie’ in this context refers to a planning application that was approved historically, many years ago, and has been brought back to life.
For more information: Miki Perkins 03 8341 3110 (goes to mobile)
Environmental Justice Australia is a national public interest legal organisation. For more than 30 years, EJA has used the law for safe climate, thriving nature, environmental justice and a radically better world.
