The Northern Councils E Zone Review Final Recommendations Report, announced by NSW planning minister Rob Stokes last Tuesday has predictably divided environmental groups and the peak body representing NSW farmers.
NSW Farmers claim the reforms still don’t provide enough certainty for their industry, while the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) says it waters down north coast councils’ ability to zone land for environmental conservation and management.
NSW Farmers executive councillor and Alstonville dairy farmer Kath Robb said that while some of the reforms were a step forward, farmers still faced the prospect of multiple zonings on their land.
‘The crux of our policy is that we want recognition of the importance of local food and fibre production and recognise that red tape duplication does nothing for the environment,’ Mrs Robb said.
‘There are some positive reforms including that the primary use of the land be the first consideration when making zoning decisions, and that there be more robust verification techniques including ground truthing for environmental zones and a relaxation of activities permitted in E2 and E3 zones.’
Yet Mrs Robb says that overall the reforms have missed the mark.
‘They do not recognise the importance of local food production and the unnecessary duplication of law that environmental zones represent.’
Weaker protections
Meanwhile, EDO NSW outreach solicitor Nina Lucas says the changes ‘offer weaker environmental protections than those proposed in the interim report released by the Department of Planning and Environment for public comment in June 2014.’
She said, ‘The far north coast is one of the most biologically diverse regions in NSW, and agriculture is a major part of the regional economy.’
‘These changes are a considerable erosion of the fundamental objective of E2 and E3 zones, being to protect, manage and restore areas with high or special ecological, scientific, cultural or aesthetic values.
‘This is of particular concern given that the reforms apply to one of the most biologically diverse regions in NSW. These reforms are also worrying in the context of the NSW government’s biodiversity legislation review, which from all indications to date is likely to result in further weakened protections for native flora and fauna.’
Last week the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) condemned the changes, which it said meant, ‘councils will only be able to zone vegetation of the highest value, such as rainforest, old-growth forest, Endangered Ecological Communities or habitat of endangered species, as E2 if they can prove that it is already being managed for environmental conservation, such as through a conservation agreement or covenant.’
Divide & conquer – what a cynical way to achieve ideological goals with no relevance to local issues. It is glaringly obvious that the State Government does NOT wish to see a workable mediated solution to this delicate problem.