Cat owners looking to make a tree change will not be welcome in a new Margaret River subdivision.

The world-renowned wine region in Western Australia's south-west already has one such ban in place for the coastal subdivision of Gnarabup, and has added the ban to a new development in the nearby town of Witchcliffe.

The subdivision is made up of blocks ranging from 2,000–6,000 square metres set on cleared farmland, but bordered by a national park that is home to native birds, kangaroos and reptiles.

Shire of Augusta Margaret River planning and development manager Nick Logan said it was the welfare of wildlife that had swayed the decision to implement the ban.

"Although there is no quantitative evidence, it's well known that cats can impact on native fauna," Mr Logan said.

"The ban has also arisen through our discussions with the Department of Parks and Wildlife, the National Trust, and consultation with landowners and nearby residents who voiced their concerns for the native fauna."

Residents will be expected to enforce ban

The ban does not extend to dogs, which Mr Logan said were also known to attack reptiles, but did not have the ability to scale trees and hunt birds.

"There is a general presumption that dogs are easier to control and kept contained with a property. Whether you can stop a cat leaving a property as easily as you can stop a dog is a personal view," Mr Logan said.

"Although they are required to be microchipped and wear a collar, cats are known to be more mobile and have the ability to jump fences."

Mr Logan also said it would be up to residents in the new subdivision to enforce the ban, and the shire was considering implementing similar bans in any other areas flagged for development.

"The vast majority of areas where people build in our shire don't have these restrictions," Mr Logan said.

"It's really just areas of high conservation value."

War on feral cats declared

The ban follows a national strategy on the eradication of feral cats recently implemented by Environment Minister Greg Hunt.

Mr Hunt said feral cats had already been "implicated" in 28 of the 29 native mammals lost to extinction and a further 120 were at risk from feral cats.

He said the government would ask state and territory ministers to take "ambitious moves" to regulate cat ownership including containment, de-sexing and microchipping to reduce the relationship or the infection of the domestic cat population into the feral cat population.

"It's been a problem that has been neglected, so feral cats have spread across our country over the last 200 years," Mr Hunt said.

"It's very important to emphasise, we don't hate cats. We just can't tolerate the damage that they're doing to our wildlife."