The NSW Nationals in the state government have ensured Koala SEPP 2019 will be remade across NSW as Koala SEPP 2021.
Core rural zones in rural areas will be decoupled from the SEPP as new codes that protect koala habitat under the Local Land Services Act are developed over the next month. The move will vastly reduce red tape by removing the dual consent requirements facing farmers and foresters while immediately introducing enhanced protection for koala habitat in areas where more than 95 per cent of development activity occurs.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the concerns of regional landholders had been heard by the NSW Nationals in the state government.
“This is a win for regional NSW and balances the interests of farmers and the protection of koalas and their habitat,” Mr Barilaro said.
“Land zoned for primary production or forestry in regional NSW will not be subject to the new SEPP, which means farmers will not be strangled by red tape.
“The intention has always been to find a solution to protect both farmers and koalas and we have successfully arrived at the Koala SEPP 2021.”
New solution to protect koalas in NSW
The new SEPP will apply to areas where more than 95 per cent of development occurs across NSW; these are the places where koala protection is needed most. The new SEPP will help deliver the NSW Koala Strategy’s objective of stabilising, then increasing the populations of koalas in the wild.
To ensure that Koala habitat is protected, whilst limiting unnecessary regulation on rural land use, the following measures will be introduced:
- Koala SEPP 2019 will be remade across NSW as Koala SEPP 2021;
- The existing Koala SEPP 2020 will continue to apply in core rural zones (RU 1, 2 and 3), except in metropolitan Sydney, Blue Mountains and the Central Coast, where Koala SEPP 2021 will apply across all zones;
- Comprehensive Koala Plans of Management (KPOM) will be finalised to protect koala habitat in Tweed and Byron Shires.
- Private Native Forestry (PNF) and Local Land Services (LLS) codes will be revised to ensure robust protections for koalas in areas of high-value koala habitat and certainty and consistency for primary producers;
- The Minister for Planning will issue a new section 9.1 direction to ensure that only the Minister, and not councils, will be empowered to rezone land used for primary production to an environmental zone, or to rezone land currently in rural zones 1, 2 and 3 to other rural zones;
- Once the codes are finalised and reflected in legislation (as required), the Koala SEPP 2020 will be repealed and the Koala SEPP 2021 will apply to the remaining land;
- At that time, dual consent provisions for PNF in local environmental plans will be removed through Koala SEPP 2021;
- Koala Plans of Management and guidelines under Koala SEPP 2021 will require the approval of the Secretary of DPIE and the concurrence of the Secretary of DRNSW.
The NSW Koala Strategy commits the Government to stabilise and then increase koala numbers in the wild by identifying and protecting koala habitat on public and private land.
Since 2018, the NSW Nationals in the state government have invested more than $44.7 million to secure koalas in the wild as part of the NSW Koala Strategy. To date, initiatives include purchasing more than 3600 hectares of priority habitat for permanent protection as part of the National Parks estate and securing 24,000 hectares of State forest as koala parks and reserves.
