Local Land Services can give you help and advice so that you understand what is allowed when managing native vegetation on your property.
The Land Management Framework allows landholders with rural-zoned land to clear native vegetation for routine agricultural and land management activities. These are known as allowable activities and do not require approval under the Local Land Services Act 2013.
You may need approval from your local council or from another authority under another Act.
What is native vegetation?
Native vegetation includes all naturally occurring plants in NSW, such as:
- trees, shrubs and scrub
- understorey plants
- groundcover
- wetland plants.
Before you start
To find out if allowable activities apply to your property, check:
- your land zoning
- your land categorisation
- whether other approvals may apply.
Read the guide to getting started with native vegetation management.
Allowable activities and land categories
Allowable activities can occur on:
- Category 2 - regulated land
- Category 2 - vulnerable regulated land (with some limits)
- Category 2 - sensitive regulated land (with stricter limits).
You can check your land categorisation using the:
Allowable activity zones
There are 3 allowable activity zones in NSW:
- Western
- Central
- Coastal.
Clearing for rural infrastructure
You or someone acting on your behalf may clear native vegetation to build, use or maintain rural infrastructure.
This is allowed without approval if:
- the activity supports genuine agricultural use, and
- the activity does not need development consent under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
Rural infrastructure means a building, structure or work used for, or connected to, an activity in a regulated rural area.
Allowable clearing for rural infrastructure varies according to zone, property size, and land categorisation.
In the western and central zones, clearing for rural infrastructure includes (but is not limited to):
- fences
- roads and tracks
- irrigation channels and pipelines
- stock or domestic water supply pipelines
- soil conservation earthworks
- cut lines for stock movement
- bore drains or drains to water storages
- telephone lines or cables
- power lines or cables
- areas for movement of large machinery
- shearing, machinery, grain, hay or similar sheds
- stock handling facilities.
In the coastal zone, clearing for rural infrastructure is allowed for:
- permanent boundary fences
- permanent internal fences
- roads and tracks
- pipelines
- stockyards
- tanks, dams, bores, pumps, water points or windmills
- shearing or machinery sheds.
Local Land Services may issue a certificate that allows clearing for additional rural infrastructure, provided the purpose is for a genuine agricultural activity.
On holdings under 40ha in the Western Division and under 10ha elsewhere in NSW, clearing for rural infrastructure is allowed for:
- permanent boundary fences
- permanent internal fences
- roads and tracks
- pipelines
- stockyards
- tanks, dams, bores, pumps, water points or windmills.
- buildings other than habitable buildings.
Local Land Services may issue a certificate that allows clearing for additional rural infrastructure, provided the purpose is for a genuine agricultural activity.
On Vulnerable or Sensitive regulated Category 2 land, you may clear for:
- permanent boundary fences
- permanent internal or temporary fences
- farm tracks, if the track is necessary for access and the route of the track minimises clearing.
Maximum clearing distances
You must only clear the minimum amount of vegetation necessary to build and maintain rural infrastructure.
The maximum clearing distances for rural infrastructure are different for each zone. They are also reduced on small landholdings (holdings under 40ha in the Western Division and under 10ha elsewhere in NSW).
These maximum distances apply even if part of the clearing has been carried out by an adjoining landholder.
| Zone | Clearing distance |
|---|---|
| Western zone | 40m |
| Central zone | 30m |
| Coastal zone | 15m |
| Small holdings (in any zone) | 12m |
| Temporary fences (in any zone) | 12m |
| Vulnerable and sensitive regulated land | 6m |
The maximum clearing distance for:
- Linear infrastructure – is the total width of clearing authorised for the infrastructure.
- Fixed point infrastructure – is the maximum distance of clearing authorised measured from the perimeter of the infrastructure.
Clearing regrowth
You may not need approval to clear native vegetation that has regrown on land that was:
- cleared of native vegetation prior to 1 January 1990
- lawfully cleared of native vegetation between 1 January 1990 and 25 August 2017.
Allowable activities for landholders
Allowable activities cover a range of routine land management activities associated with agriculture and other common practices in rural areas.
Allowable activities are not an alternative approval pathway to environmental assessment requirements under Part 5 of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
You can clear native vegetation to build, use or maintain an airstrip. Only clear the minimum area needed to meet civil aviation safety standards for airstrips.
You can clear native vegetation considered reasonably necessary to remove or reduce an imminent risk of serious personal injury or damage to property. Imminent risk means likely to immediately occur at any moment.
You can clear native vegetation for traditional Aboriginal cultural activities provided the clearing is not for commercial purposes.
You can clear native vegetation for firewood on your property for use on that property or other land you own.
You can collect firewood on:
- Category 2 - regulated land
- Category 2 - vulnerable regulated land
- Category 2 - sensitive regulated land.
Clearing is not allowed if:
- the firewood is a threatened species, part of a Threatened Ecological Community (TEC), or habitat of a threatened species
- the wood is available from other allowable activities
- the wood is available from clearing associated with the Land Management Code
- the wood is available from forest operations authorised under a Private Native Forestry Plan.
You may clear or harvest native vegetation to construct, operate or maintain rural infrastructure on the same land.
Harvesting or clearing is not allowed if you can get the construction timber from:
- other allowable activities
- clearing associated with the Land Management Code
- forest operations authorised by a Private Native Forestry Plan.
Native vegetation to be cleared or harvested must not be a threatened species, or be part of a TEC, or be the habitat of a threatened species.
You must also avoid any activity that causes land degradation. This includes:
- soil erosion
- rising water tables
- increases in salinity
- mass movement by gravity of soil or rock
- stream bank instability
- any process that results in declining water quality.
You can clear vegetation if it is reasonably necessary for the construction, operation or maintenance of privately owned power lines on private land.
If you are in the western zone, you may clear native vegetation to a distance of 100 metres where the vegetation is predominantly a mallee species. This does not apply in the coastal and central zones. Vegetation removal for fire protection is administered through the Rural Fire Services Act 1997.
The sustainable grazing allowable activity applies to:
- clearing of native vegetation during the course of sustainable grazing
- management of native grasslands used for grazing by livestock.
Provided the activity is not likely to result in the long-term decline in the structure and composition of native vegetation, you may:
- clear native vegetation for the sustainable grazing of livestock
- allow livestock to graze or impact upon native vegetation, such as grasses or other groundcover within grasslands.
Read more about using the sustainable grazing allowable activity.
In the western area you can clear mulga plants (Acacia aneura) for feeding stock that are kept on the same landholding from which the native vegetation is cleared.
Under this allowable activity:
- the clearing must not exceed 50% of the total area of mulga on the land holding in any 10 year period
- cleared mulga remains on the ground where it is cleared or is windrowed along a contour on the landholding
- clearing does not result in remaining mulga plants being over 20 metres apart
- clearing does not cause land degradation or the introduction of non-native vegetation.
Environmental protection works include a broad range of land, soil and vegetation management actions reasonably necessary to rehabilitate land towards its natural state.
Read more about environmental protection works allowable activities.
You can clear planted native vegetation provided it was not planted with the assistance of public funds.
Your next steps
If your proposed works does not meet the criteria for an approved activity, there may be options to clear vegetation under the Land Management Code.
Contact Local Land Services NSW
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