By Ann Marie Angebrandt
A developer was fined $10,000 for clearing rare native grasses in Truganina.
Shannon Peak Pty Ltd was fined in the Werribee Magistrates Court for ignoring Wyndham City Council planning rules.
It was also ordered to fund a grassland revegetation project in Little River to offset the grasslands it destroyed.
Wyndham Mayor Cr Shane Bourke said developers who ignored the rules would be taken to court.
Developers and landowners must demonstrate they have attempted to avoid removing native vegetation, but if it is not possible, they must remove a minimal amount.
If neither is possible, councils and the State Government may grant permission for the vegetation to be removed if developers pay for offset planting.
Less than one per cent of the original Western Basalt Plains Grasslands remain in Victoria, and what is left is fragmented.
