A feud over access to a small piece of land by two of Australia’s largest developers is delaying completion of a tunnel designed to help an endangered species cross a dangerous stretch of arterial road. International wildlife experts have dubbed the situation a “shemozzle” and urged the state or federal government to intervene.

The problem dates back to November 2024, when developer Stockland purchased the 1,700-home Figtree Hill housing development from competitor Lendlease. The property is located on Appin Road, within a designated urban growth area in Sydney’s southwest, and is used by more than 12,000 trucks and cars every day.

More than 50 koalas have been killed on the road since 2022, and there are concerns about the future of the species as traffic is expected to grow by 40 per cent over the next three decades as the human population increases.

To lessen the chances of koalas being killed, work on a purpose-built koala underpass, known as Glen Lorne, began in February 2024. The tunnel is nearly finished on the eastern side of Appin Road, where Figtree Hill is situated, however completing it requires digging through to the eastern side, and that’s where the problem lies.

Stockland doesn’t have permission to excavate land across the road, which Yahoo News revealed in July is owned by Lendlease and not included as part of the Figtree Hill sale. An offer by Stockland to buy roughly 5 hectares of land was knocked back, preventing it from finishing the underpass and road widening works that are a condition of development.

“We have been in discussions with the adjoining landowner to gain access to the land to complete the underpass, including an offer to purchase the land on commercial terms, but have not been given access,” it told Yahoo News in an email.

Works have stalled on the Glen Lorne underpass. Source: Stephanie Carrick

Why is the underpass being delayed?

Back in August 2023, Lendlease told Yahoo News the underpasses were “urgently needed” as car strikes were the number one cause of endangered koala deaths in Campbelltown, where Fig Tree Hill was being constructed.

But it’s now been five years since the plan to build them was first announced, and three months since construction on Glen Lorne stalled.

When Yahoo News followed up with Lendlease on the situation in September, the company declared it had “fulfilled its obligations in regards to the delivery of koala safety infrastructure” when it sold the property and that land access arrangements “were not part of the sale”.

“Following that sale, it is the responsibility of the new developer to manage its obligations to ensure ongoing koala safety in the area, and to come up with solutions on how best to deliver on its commitments,” a spokesperson for the company said in an email.

International conservation group dubs situation a ‘shemozzle’

Koalas were listed as endangered in NSW following the Black Summer bushfires, and a parliamentary inquiry in 2020 warned the species could be extinct across the state by 2050 if urgent action wasn’t taken to protect them. The koalas in Sydney’s southwest are considered important to the species’ recovery because they’re the only population in the state not afflicted with chylamidia, a disease that’s fatal without treatment.

Delays to the tunnel designed to protect the koalas has attracted the attention of multiple conservation groups, with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) calling the situation a “shemozzle”.

The interim regional director of IFAW Oceania, Josey Sharrad, said she has written to multiple state and federal government ministers, but their response has been “really disappointing”.

“It seems that everyone’s pointing the finger at each other, passing the buck, and saying: it’s not my fault,” she said.

For thousands of years, koalas have moved between the Nepean and Georges Rivers, but Appin Road cuts through this pathway and an underpass is needed to help them cross safely. Source: Google Earth

The Sydney Basin Koala Network’s Stephanie Carrick is also frustrated by the impasse. She has written to the federal environment department, calling on it to intervene as NSW koalas are listed by the Commonwealth as endangered. But it responded in an email saying it was up to Stockland, Lendlease, and NSW authorities to resolve.

When contacted by Yahoo News about the matter, the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure redirected questions to the developer.

“Any further enquiries about the progress of its construction should be referred to the current developer, Stockland. New landowners are required to comply with previous agreements or conditions of consent that form part of the approval process,” it said in an email.

Carrick said she “can’t understand” why all stops aren’t being pulled out to complete the underpasses. “I’m so baffled by the situation,” she said.

What’s next for the underpass?

Until negotiations to access the property on the eastern side are settled, work on the underpass will not continue. “All works that can be done by Stockland on our land in relation to the underpass are underway or have been completed,” a Stockland spokesperson told Yahoo.

In an email, Lendlease claimed “alternative options” were available for Stockland to fulfil its obligations to keep koalas safe. Neither it nor Stockland was able to clarify what these alternatives were.

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