Laws that make land clearing easier ruled invalid by NSW court

Laws that make land clearing in New South Wales easier have been ruled invalid by the NSW land and environment court after a challenge filed by the Nature Conservation Council.

 In November 2016, NSW replaced three Acts
with its new Biodiversity Conservation Act.

In November 2016, the NSW Coalition government scrapped the state’s Native Vegetation Act, the Threatened Species Conservation Act and the Nature Conservation Trust Act, and replaced them with its new Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The government also introduced a suite of codes that exempted clearing in a range of circumstances from normal development assessment requirements.

The council, represented by the environmental defenders office NSW, argued in court in Sydney on Friday that the codes were invalid because the environment minister had not approved them before they were implemented.

Read Michael Slezak’s story from The Guardian - “Laws that make land clearing easier ruled invalid by NSW court.”