In my earlier post, I reported on the role of biodiversity offsets in the development assessment process. It is now clear that biodiversity offsets still have a clear role to play. The Office of Environment and Heritage (‘OEH‘) has recently published a…
On 1 August 2014 the Rural Fires Amendment (Vegetation Clearing) Act 2014 (the Amendment Act) commenced operation in NSW. According to the NSW Government the changes have been made so that “people can more easily take common sense measures to…
Review to be conducted over laws protecting threatened species, native vegetation and biodiversity in NSW
29 Jun, 2014
The Minister for the Environment has announced a review of the legislative and policy framework for the management of native vegetation, threatened species and other protected flora and fauna.
The new Environment Minister announces further measures to strengthen environment protection laws
29 May, 2014
The NSW Government yesterday announced a range of new measures that will strengthen the powers available to the EPA, including a proposed ten-fold increase in penalties for companies. Environment Minister Rob Stokes said “the changes will provide the EPA with…
Biodiversity offsets are often proposed to address environmental impacts of development. However, a recent court decision indicates that when assessing proposed development, offsets are not to be preferred over avoidance and mitigation strategies. It is therefore worthwhile considering the role…
Court upholds Warkworth mine extension refusal – Immediate and some long term implications
29 Apr, 2014
Following on from our earlier post which can be found here, the Court of Appeal’s decision in Warkworth Mining Limited v Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association Inc [2014] NSWCA 105 not only finds that there was no legal error in Preston CJ’s decision…
‘Getting the balance right’ for CSG reforms
20 Feb, 2014
In October 2013, the NSW Government introduced measures to protect certain residential land and buffer zones around that land from new coal seam gas development. In January 2014, these exclusion zones were extended to cover land in villages which meets…
The Department of Planning has released a draft Planning Circular (Draft Circular) regarding notations on s149 certificates in respect of coastal hazards. Under s149 of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) application can be made for a planning…
In a recent decision of the Land & Environment Court, the reasonableness of two conditions of consent imposed in respect of a dwelling proposed on land subject to coastal hazards was considered. The case demonstrates the difficulties for local councils in attempting…
New Native Vegetation Regulation to reduce red tape?
16 Dec, 2013
The Native Vegetation Regulation 2013 commenced on 23 September 2013 repealing the Native Vegetation Regulation 2005 and amending the Native Vegetation Act 2003. The new Regulation has been described by the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) as the first step…
Can we bank on the future of biobanking?
29 Sep, 2013
The biobanking scheme in NSW commenced in July 2008. Since then, only 21 biobanking agreements have been entered into to create biobank sites and only 7 biobanking statements have been issued. A review of the scheme is currently being undertaken…
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure has recently published a consultation draft of proposed amendments to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Mining, Petroleum Production and Extractive Industries) 2007 (Mining SEPP) to clarify how the significance of a resource is to…