Statement: Wildlife Fencing at Shearwater, Paynesville

31 August 2026

Resi Ventures is aware of, and deeply saddened by, recent reports of kangaroos becoming trapped and dying within temporary fencing at our Shearwater development site at 10 Fullarton Drive, Paynesville.

This fencing was installed as a requirement of our Commonwealth approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC 2023/09592). The approval requires us to clearly demarcate “No‑Go Zones” and offset areas around retained native vegetation before any works begin on site, to protect habitat for the Latham’s Snipe — a migratory shorebird species protected under national environment law — adjacent to the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar wetland.

Although the fencing was configured in accordance with the approved management requirements, a number of  kangaroos gained access to the enclosed protected areas and became trapped. Unfortunately, some of them did not survive, and we acknowledge how distressing this is for the local residents.

As soon as we became aware of the issue, we engaged our ecological consultants and opened corridors through the fenced areas to allow wildlife to move freely in and out. We understand this interim measure has been effective, with no further animals reported trapped since.

We are now working closely with East Gippsland Shire Council, the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), and the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to agree to a permanent fencing design that continues to meet our approval conditions and protect the Latham’s Snipe habitat, while preventing further harm to the kangaroos.

Resi Ventures has not departed from the conditions of our federal approval, and we have acted quickly to put an interim solution in place while we work through a longer-term fix with the relevant authorities. We will provide a further update once this work is complete.