Copyright 2000, Sydney Morning Herald
July 19, 2000
By JAMES WOODFORD, Environment Writer

A massive clearing of land, in which farmers are alleged to have aerially sprayed forest covering an area as big as the City of Bankstown, has been stopped by the State Government.

According to the director of the Barwon region of the Department of Land and Water Conservation, Mr Randall Hart, his officers have halted work on three properties covering 130 square kilometres.

The department is investigating the possibility that up to 80 square kilometres has already been cleared.

The news of the investigation comes as the Premier, Mr Carr, has announced a relaxation of native vegetation clearance legislation, in spite of NSW having the second worst land-clearing record in the nation after Queensland.

Mr Carr has promised farmers he will review land-clearing exemptions, speed up the preparation of regional vegetation management plans and possibly allow farmers to clear areas, providing they revegetate other parts of their land.

Teams of investigators from the department have been on site between Mungindi and Boomi gathering evidence. It is understood that the highest levels of government have become involved in the case because of its political sensitivity.

Government officials have also expressed deep frustration at the incident and the legislative powers they have at their disposal. It is also understood that one property owner has previously been in dispute with the department over land-clearing on his properties.

The department has an extremely poor rate of prosecution under the legislation, with more than 360 reported breaches of the act and no successful prosecutions to date.

It has also been criticised for the high rate of approvals of land-clearing applications - up to 95 per cent.

At least three landholders are believed to be involved in the alleged spraying, possibly of the herbicide glycophosphate, which is understood to have taken place over recent months.

At first it was thought that an area of 10 by three kilometres had been sprayed but recently the investigation has been expanded to cover an area of 13 by 10 kilometres.

The vast area involved has stunned investigators: 130 square kilometres, nearly 10 per cent of the total annual forest area that farmers apply to clear in the entire State.

The woodland is coolibah-belah scrub and conservationists are appalled at both the news of the investigation and the Premier's decision to amend the Native Vegetation Act.

The director of the Total Environment Centre, Mr Jeff Angel, said if the allegations against the wheat farmers were proved the Government should "throw the book at them".

Mr Angel also condemned Mr Carr's proposals as watering down land-clearing legislation.

"Mr Carr has gone soft on stopping the land-clearing cowboys," Mr Angel said. "The Premier's statements to the NSW Farmers' Association on Monday does little to give any confidence that the Government is serious about reining in land-clearing." Error: Unable to read footer file.