Property Vegetation Plans (PVPs)
Clearing remnant native vegetation or protected regrowth requires approval under the Native Vegetation Act 2003 (NV Act) unless the clearing is a permitted activity. Under the NV Act your local Catchment Management Authority (CMA) can only approve the clearing of remnant vegetation or protected regrowth when the clearing will improve or maintain environmental outcomes. Where clearing does require approval, landholders may apply to their local CMA either to prepare a Property Vegetation Plan (PVP) or make an application for Development Consent. Your CMA can give you advice on the best option for your particular proposal.
A PVP is a voluntary, legally binding agreement between a landholder and the local CMA, and may be obtained for a number of reasons, including:
- applying for native vegetation incentive funding
- to protect native vegetation for future generations
- to confirm that native vegetation on a property is regrowth, providing a landholder with assurance that they will not need future clearing approval
- to change the regrowth date of native vegetation to an earlier date, provided that proof can be supplied illustrating two previous clearing events associated with rotational farming
- to confirm whether existing rotational farming, grazing or cultivation practices meet the definitions of these in the NV Act so that clearing approval will not be required
- to obtain clearing approval, and to secure any offsets associated with that clearing.
Because PVPs are agreements that affect the land, it is essential that they apply to the land, despite any change of landholder, that is, that they 'run with the land'. In order to ensure that PVPs are binding on successors in title, an abstract of the PVP must be registered on the register kept by the Land and Property Management Authority under the Real Property Act 1900. The register is the central place where any person (e.g. prospective purchasers) can look to find out what interests affect the land.
Find out more about the following property vegetation plan topics
- Learn more about how the assessment programs and tools are used by CMAs to assess applications for clearing or incentive funding in order to create a PVP.
- How to negotiate a PVP and what is required to get the PVP approved. You'll also find information on how continuing use PVPs can be used to confirm existing cultivation, grazing or rotational farming practices; how a PVP can be used to change the regrowth date of native vegetation and how to vary a PVP.
- Incentive PVPs and whether funding is available for your property.
- Do you have invasive native scrub on your property? Find more information on how to clear invasive native scrub.
- The new Private Native Forestry (PNF) Regulation and Code of Practice which requires landholders to obtain a PNF PVP before commencing sustainable logging operations.
- See the public register for a list of approved clearing PVPs, CMA discretions, increased RAMA buffer distances, and clearing under the local government infrastructure RAMA.
Page last updated: 12 September 2012
