New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

CAMDEN LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN NO 46 - REG 24B

24B Clearing

(1) Land within Zone No 1 (a), 5 (a), 6 (a1), 6 (b) or 6 (c) must not be cleared for any purpose, except with the consent of the Council.

(2) In considering whether to grant consent as required by this clause, the Council must take into consideration the extent to which clearing would adversely affect the amenity of the natural and rural landscape.

(3) In this clause:
"biological diversity" means variability among living organisms and the ecological systems of which they are part, and includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
"clearing" of vegetation (including native vegetation) means directly or indirectly:

(a) killing, destroying or burning vegetation, or

(b) removing vegetation, or

(c) severing or lopping branches, limbs, stems or trunks of vegetation, or

(d) substantially damaging vegetation in any other way,

but does not include sustainable grazing.
"critical habitat" has the same meaning as in the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 .
"native grasslands" means a plant community dominated by native grasses and containing a variety of other native herbaceous plants, and may comprise the dominant layer of vegetation (treeless and shrubless communities) or the understorey in tree or shrub-dominated communities (grassland understoreys).
"native vegetation" means vegetation that is indigenous to the Camden local government area, including trees, shrubs, understorey plants and native grasslands, indigenous vegetation being a species which existed in the Camden local government area before European settlement.
"remnant vegetation" means any patch of native vegetation around which most or all of the native vegetation has been removed.
"riparian vegetation" means the native vegetation which is located on land which is situated within, or within 40 metres of, the bed or bank of any river or lake, in each case within the meaning of the Water Administration Act 1986 .
"threatened species, population or ecological community" has the same meaning as in the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 .
"vegetation" means plants, including trees, shrubs and understorey plants.

(4) This clause does not apply to or in respect of the following:

(a) vegetation located on land that is subject to a development consent for the erection of a building or the carrying out of a work that authorises the removal of that vegetation,

(b) mistletoe control (the lopping of vegetation for mistletoe control to the minimum extent necessary for the vegetation’s continued health),

(c) burning (the clearing of vegetation as authorised under the Bush Fires Act 1949 ),

(d) public utilities and emergency work (the clearing, to a minimum extent, of vegetation for the maintenance of public utilities associated with the provision of power lines, transmission of electricity, water, gas, electronic communications or the like, for air navigation purposes, or which may reasonably be thought likely to be at risk of causing personal injury or damage to property),

(e) planted vegetation (the clearing of vegetation planted for forestry, agriculture, agroforestry, woodlots, gardens or horticultural purposes),

(f) private forestry (the clearing of vegetation in a forest in the course of its being selectively logged on a sustainable basis or managed for forestry purposes, such as timber production),

(g) regrowth (the removal of vegetation, whether seedlings or regrowth, of less than 10 years of age if the land has been previously cleared for cultivation, pastures or forestry plantation purposes),

(h) noxious weeds (the clearing of vegetation declared a noxious weed by or under any Act),

(i) vertebrate pest control (the clearing of vegetation to the minimum extent necessary for vertebrate pest control),

(j) the destruction or removal of vegetation, within 0.5 metre of the boundary between land owned or occupied by different persons for the purpose of enabling a survey to be carried out along that boundary by a surveyor registered under the Surveyors Act 1929 .

(5) The Council must not grant consent as required by this clause unless it has taken into consideration the likely social, environmental and economic consequences of granting or refusing to grant consent, and such of the following matters as are of relevance to the application:

(a) whether the vegetation is remnant vegetation in a region that has been extensively cleared,

(b) whether the area has a high biological diversity,

(c) whether the area contains any of the following:

• disjunct populations of a native species or a species that is near the limit of its geographic range,

• riparian vegetation,

• vegetation associated with wetlands,

(d) whether the area has connective importance as, or as part of, a corridor of native vegetation (meaning native vegetation forming a connection that allows for the potential passage of species of flora or fauna between two or more other patches of vegetation),

(e) whether the area is, or is part of, land identified as wilderness in a wilderness assessment report prepared by the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife,

(f) whether the vegetation is adequately represented in a conservation reserve system,

(g) whether the area is an “inholding” situated within land reserved or dedicated under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 ,

(h) whether the area is important as a site along a migratory route for wildlife,

(i) whether the area functions as an important drought refuge for wildlife,

(j) whether clearance would be likely to contribute significantly to any of the following problems:

• soil erosion,

• salinisation of soil and water,

• acidification of soil,

• land slip,

• deterioration in the quality of surface or ground water,

• increased flooding,

(k) whether there is any need for conservation of all or some of the vegetation because of:

• its unusually good condition or integrity as a sample of its type, or

• the low boundary to area ratio of the area, or

• the existence within the area of Aboriginal sites, or

• the existence within the area of a site of geological significance,

(l) guidelines adopted by the Council from time to time that are available for public inspection at the Council’s offices concerning the preservation and protection of vegetation (including those identified in plans of management, vegetation plans and vegetation management plans and policies).

(6) The Council may serve a copy of an application for consent as required by this clause on any one or more of the following:

(a) the Director-General of the Department of Land and Water Conservation,

(b) the Environment Protection Authority,

(c) the Director-General of the Department of Agriculture,

(d) the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife,

(e) the Director of NSW Fisheries.

(7) The Council must not grant consent to the application until after taking into consideration any response made to the Council by the public authority concerned within 28 days of service of the copy of the application.

(8) Despite the other provisions of this clause, if the development that is the subject of an application for consent as required by this clause:

(a) is on land that is, or is part of, critical habitat, or

(b) is likely to significantly affect a threatened species, population or ecological community, or its habitat,

the application for development consent must be determined in accordance with the procedures specified in sections 77A-77C of the Act.

(9) For the purposes of subclause (8) (b), the factors specified in section 5A of the Act are to be taken into account by the Council in deciding whether the development is likely to significantly affect a threatened species, population or ecological community, or its habitat.