Kangaroo road death renews calls to protect Link Road Forest bushland from development

10 February 2026

newy.com.au – A kangaroo has just been hit and killed by a car on Minmi Road, at the entrance to Blue Gum Hills Regional Park. This has prompted City of Newcastle councillor Elizabeth Adamczyk to warn residents and the State Government that the city’s bushland fringe is becoming increasingly dangerous for native wildlife.

Adamczyk, a Ward 4 councillor, said she was “distressed” to receive photos of the killed animal from a resident in the growing Fletcher and Minmi corridor,

Adamczyk said “devastating events like this are occurring with increasing frequency” as urban development expands, she says too little attention is being paid to “the full cost, including dislocation of native animals from their homes and habitat and the shrinking of safe refuge available to them”.

She linked the road death to planning decisions that have allowed “large estates to be built in the bushland fringe of our city, adjacent to the Green Corridor through Fletcher and Minmi and Blue Gum Hills Park”, and she said that council was urging the NSW Government not to approve further fringe development.

The councillor said the City of Newcastle continued to support the Save Link Rd Forest campaign, which is pushing for bushland at 144 Boundary Road, Wallsend to be rezoned for conservation and for the State Government to reject the proposed state led development.

The 144 Boundary Road site forms part of the NSW Planning Portal’s “Eden Estates, Wallsend” rezoning investigation, which is examining a proposed rezoning of 574 hectares across parcels in Wallsend and Glendale to enable up to 4,200 dwellings, including affordable housing, as well as employment and community facilities.

The NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure announced on 25 July 2025 it would fast track the Eden Estates rezoning as part of a statewide push for new housing supply.

Adamczyk said council had installed wildlife warning signs along Woodford Street and Minmi Road, and urged drivers to slow down in fauna zones, saying “the safest driving speed is 40–50 km/h, not only for humans but for animals living in these high risk zones in the bushland fringe”.

She thanked residents who reported the incident to wildlife rescue service WIRES and to the City of Newcastle environment team, and urged others to do the same via the 24 hour number which is 1300 094 737.

The Eden Estates rezoning remains at the pre exhibition stage on the NSW Planning Portal, with further technical studies and public consultation expected before any planning controls are changed.