The state’s peak farming body has urged the NSW Government not to repeat the mistakes of the past on land management.
The Environment and Heritage Group has released its draft native vegetation regulatory map, which it claimed would give greater certainty to landholders about vegetation on their properties. However, NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said there had been too many bungled mapping projects in the past and farmers feared they could inadvertently lose their land rights due to errors.
“This map may have major impacts in terms of what farmers can and cannot do on their farms, so everyone needs to take a long, hard look at the draft map and raise any concerns as soon as possible,” Mr Martin said.
“It is vital that any new regulation over farming land does not further inhibit productivity and operations unnecessarily or delay the critical decisions farmers make on an almost daily basis.”
NSW Farmers had been striving to assist the Environment Department to work with landowners on land management, Mr Martin said, and this map rollout must demonstrate this aim.
“Past inaccuracies and a bungled process has led to a lack of trust in the map, and its key function as a tool to enable practical decision making on productive agricultural land management options,” Mr Martin said.
“We have told all relevant Ministers during this process that NSW Farmers does not have confidence in the accuracy of the maps, and that’s a key sticking point.
“It’s not that we’re against maps – they can be a useful tool – we’ve just seen too many cases of inaccurate maps leading to stress and uncertainty.”
Mr Martin said the outcome of any new regulatory tool such as a map must be to meet the objects of increasing productivity on private land while creating an opportunity for farmers to continue their environmental goals of healthy landscapes that benefit all citizens.
