NSW Native veg details revealed, delays expected

STATE government has unveiled the draft codes and settings that will power its new native vegetation laws - but after an initial reading, it remains to be seen if the final product will deliver a less burdensome regime for landholders.

Farmers will also question the state of negotiations between Office of Environment and Department of Primary Industries, after it was revealed the commencement of laws will be set back by almost two months.

Again, crucially, regulatory property mapping is still being worked through, and delivery of the final OEH product has been pushed back to 2018.

Draft maps will be made available for property owners to review and appeal if they disagree with them - but it is unclear when this will be.

This follows reports that some stakeholders aren’t confident in the maps or the map functions as they currently stand.

Some farmers contacted by The Land have expressed concerns over the influence of the Office of Environment on the reforms, and worry that the department will ultimately water down the effectiveness for primary producers. 

There will be another six-week period of consultation on the details released on Wednesday - which include drafts of:

Government said consultation closes on June 21 and the reforms will commence on August 25.  

Most of Wednesday’s reveal by government appears familiar and touches on the fundamentals that were negotiated and locked down during the development of the legislation last year, including the type and scale of clearing allowed on regulated land, and the biodiversity set-asides required to interact with the system. 

A public register will now be established to document areas a landholder sets aside for biodiversity, instead of putting it onto the land title. Grasslands and other Groundcover Assessment Methods are also still being developed.

You can see the drafts released today at www.landmanagement.nsw.gov.au.

NSW Farmers warned the drafts were at risk of being too onerous, and vowed to seek appropriate changes. The Association’s Conservation and Resource Management chairman Mitchell Clapham said there had been some progress but many codes were “riddled with red lights”.  

“Some of the requirements in the Codes are over prescriptive, for example, the Invasive Native Species Code should be permitted to improve the environmental condition of the landscape,” Mr Clapham said. “Instead we see Codes riddled with red lights.” 

“Some of the Codes are a move towards a fairer system, however there are requirements in these Codes that are not supported by NSW Farmers.

“We can’t agree that it is fair to require farmers to freeze significant amounts of vegetation on their own property, and undertake yearly reporting, forever. At the moment the settings aren’t quite fair and we believe many farmers will not engage or participate in a system that is over regulated, complicated and riddled with restrictions.

“As the major stakeholders in the issue of biodiversity management on farmland, we are disappointed to see the hurdles farmers in eastern farming areas, in particular, will face in order to increase productivity on their farms.

Nature Conservation Council chief executive Kate Smolski – who opposes the reforms – said government was embarking on a ‘dangerous course’ by giving landholders more power to determine what suitable land clearing is. 

“It is unreasonable to expect landholders without scientific qualifications to assess the ecological value of bushland and whether it can be cleared,” she said.

“Putting that responsibility onto landholders is unfair and unnecessarily risky. The codes must be strengthened to ensure permission to clear is only granted after proper assessment by suitably qualified professionals”

“The codes will suit big agribusinesses that can pay ecologists to navigate the maze of complexity, but for the average family farmer these laws are going to be a headache.”

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