A coalition of legal, community and environmental groups appealed to the Commonwealth Government to overturn the development approval. The grounds for the appeal were that the development would threaten several endangered species, including the golden sun moth, southern brown bandicoot and growling grass frog. An independent consultant's report found significant populations of these species. The Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, referred it to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Ian Campbell. He ascertained that the project did not require approval from the Commonwealth and allowed the development to proceed.
