3 February 2025.
1. Access
1.1. Process for access shall include landholder negotiations. No access prior to activities being agreed or determined and compensated.
1.2. Full and frank disclosure of all likely impacts and liabilities associated with a project must be made to the landholder.
1.3. Landholder negotiations shall be carried out in a manner that minimises time and financial impacts on the land holder e.g. not to clash with planting harvesting or mustering activities.
1.4. Access roads and tracks must be maintained, or improved where necessary, at the proponent’s cost so that they are fit for purpose, support safe road use and minimise impacts on the environment and surrounding lands.
1.5. Users of roads and tracks must operate in accordance with workplace health and safety (e.g. safe speed limit for conditions).
1.6. Landholders to have legal and relevant specialist representation fully funded by the proponent as incurred.
2. Impact on Agricultural Land Uses
2.1. Agriculture is essential to our economy, food security and integral to our communities.
2.2. Agriculture must be protected from development that compromises productivity, sustainability and accessibility.
2.3. Where the long-term costs of a project exceed the long-term benefit from existing land use, the project should not be approved.
2.4. Land uses that could have a detrimental impact on an existing agricultural land use or the health or safety of people in agricultural areas should require assessment by an independent, statutory authority.
2.5. The independent statutory authority should be comprised of members representative of rural interests / with practical experience in assessing the impacts to rural operations/grazing/farming businesses.
2.6. The authority should have strong governance standards that ensure transparency and accountability to all stakeholders.
2.7. The assessment process should require the project proponent to fund independent investigation of the project’s potential impacts by experts chosen by the authority.
2.8. The independent experts’ reports should be made publicly available alongside the project proponent’s plans for the project and own assessment of likely impacts.
2.9. To be properly made and considered by the authority, submissions should not need to be supported by the submitter’s own evidence, it being important that a submitter’s financial resources should not prevent the authority’s ability to consider and address legitimate concerns.
2.10. The authority’s decisions should be supported by reasons and published publicly.
2.11. Appeals from the authority’s decisions should be considered by a court in which submitters can be heard at relatively low cost with principles similar to the Land Court, e.g. not bound by the rules of evidence, may inform itself in the way it considers appropriate and must act according to equity, good conscience and the substantial merits of the case without regard to legal technicalities and forms or the practice of other courts.
3. Compensation
3.1. Landholder must be involved in assessment of impacts and calculation of compensation.
3.2. Compensation must include payment for landholders’ time calculated at commercial rates and payment for any negative impact on the peaceful enjoyment of land.
3.3. Compensation must encompass the loss/impact on natural capital and livestock/crop production losses.
3.4. Material change in circumstances and/or unexpected consequences must trigger ability of landholder to re-negotiate compensation.
3.5. Impacted neighbours must be compensated.
4. Compliance
4.1. Compliance is a regulatory role that shall require landholder contact and on-ground inspections at not more than 6 month intervals.
4.2. Landholders should have the right but not the responsibility to compel regulator investigation and enforcement of compliance.
4.3. Proponents and regulators must proactively identify, disclose and manage cumulative impacts.
4.4. Non-compliance should be immediately reported to the landholder and should trigger cease work.
4.5. All projects must have comprehensive monitoring and transparent reporting.
5. Rehabilitation
5.1. Land needs to be progressively rehabilitated and revegetated.
5.2. All plants and other materials used in rehabilitation must have demonstrated safe practices for biosecurity including appropriate permits, forms and checklists.
5.3. Rehabilitation and revegetation must achieve pre-existing conditions, or better.
5.4. There should be financial assurance for rehabilitation and revegetating for farming and grazing land use.
5.5. Rehabilitation must be up to date and financial assurance re-assessed prior to additional approvals or tenures being granted or renewed.
6. Biosecurity
6.1. Proponents must comply with the landholders’ farm biosecurity plan.