The NSW government has established the package to help farmers who have been impacted upon by the Native Vegetation Act 2003 and the Native Vegetation Regulation 2005. The $37 million package, funded by the Environmental Trust, is available for three years from 1 July and includes:
- Farmer Exit Assistance ($12 million) - for farmers who can demonstrate loss of commercial viability as a result of being refused permission to clear native vegetation and who have passed the Relative Hardship Test. This means being able to show that the area of native vegetation being conserved on their farm is greater than the catchment average for each landscape type. Here, the NSW government can offer to purchase the property to be on-sold under strict environmental management conditions. The money generated by the sale will be added to a revolving pool fund to be used to purchase further properties. Additional funding of up to $5,500 is available to landholders who sell their properties in this way to cover the costs of sale contracts, relocation and advisory services.
- Sustainable Farming Grants ($15 million) - where farmers have suffered real financial hardship as a result of the legislation a grant may be awarded to improve the economic and environmental viability of the property. Farmers must have been refused consent to clear, satisfy the Relative Hardship Test, exhausted all Property Vegetation Plan options, and have completed, or complete, a sustainable farm management course. Grants of up to $80,000 will be available to diversify enterprises, develop alternative income streams and adopt best practice conservation farming.
- Offset Pools - where farmers are not able to avail themselves of the ‘offset’ actions available under the Native Vegetation Act because they are not able to establish the offsets either on-farm or on an adjoining property, they may access the CMA’s Offset Pool. The CMAs will broker agreements with farmers to create this pool and some farmers will even be paid to provide the offsets. Again, the farmers must have been refused consent to clear, satisfy the Relative Hardship Test, exhausted all Property Vegetation Plan options, and have completed, or complete, a sustainable farm management course.
