Tensions between farmers and environmentalists have long been cast as a battle of opposites but a new land management framework is tackling some of that conflict by taking a more farmer-focused approach.
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Around 40 people gathered at Inverell RSM on Tuesday for an information session on the framework introduced under the Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation Act, implemented by the NSW Government on August 25. This was the first of many sessions being held across the region, including one in Moree on Wednesday.
Organised by the local Local Land Services (LLS) the meeting atmosphere was open and constructive as a formal presentation wove between informal questions from an attentive audience of rural land owners.
“Landholders have watched this legislation keenly,” LLS Director Regional Services, Nick Savage said explaining that the new framework sought a balance between productivity, efficiency and increasing biodiversity.
He said a new Sustainable Land Management section had been set up within LLS to deliver a farmer-focused service; and it had been resourced with the equivalent of double the staffing previously available.
“We have a lot more staff who will meet with landowners and ask them what they would like to do. We listen to them and we help them apply the legislation to achieve those goals.”
Mr Savage said that with around 80 per cent of the state’s native vegetation being on private land, the government had recognised the need to engage with rural landholders if any legislation was to be effective.
Key changes to the new reforms include more opportunities to develop land for production; payments and incentives for protecting native plants and animals, and faster more streamlined approvals including more activities that can be undertaken without approval.
LLS officer Dennis Boschma gave a presentation outlining the practicalities of delivering the new legislation that only applies to large rural holdings outside town, industrial and hobby-farm areas. The process begins with identifying a property’s land zoning and the regulations or “Regulatory Layers” that apply within that zone. Allowable Activities and Codes of Practice are defined for each zone, and there may be more than one type of zone within a single property.
For more details visit the LLS website, contact your LLS office or call the helpline on 1300 778 080.
Looking at implementing the Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation reforms in the Northern Tablelands, Inverell LLS officer Christopher Perceval said local rural land owners generally wanted to take advantage of the productive land on their property and “this legislation is wanting to make that happen”.
As a senior member of the new Sustainable Land Management team, Mr Perceval said they wanted to engage with landholders across the region and work towards solutions for their vegetation management issues.
“The Tablelands and Slopes is a diverse region with a broad scale of different issues,” he said.
Mr Perceval reported the team often received enquiries related to managing regrowth or the encroachment of native species, and “people are looking to take advantage of the higher than average livestock prices by opening up more of their land”.
“We’re also getting enquiries into the conservation opportunities and funding available with the new Biodiversity Conservation Trust,” he said.
Questions from local landholders during the Inverell Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation Reforms session on Tuesday included: how the new framework impacts on managing ground cover compromised by Coolatai grass; whether it is possible to protect a high biodiversity bush area on a property in perpetuity; what is the allowable width of clearing around fencing and other infrastructure; and where can landholders lodge any objections to map zoning classifications.
