37Areas of High Conservation Value—Development

37 Areas of High Conservation Value—Development

37 Areas of High Conservation Value—Development

(1) The objectives of identifying land as an area of high conservation value are—

(a) to conserve environmentally important land having ecological, scientific, faunal, floristic or aesthetic values, and

(b) to preserve intact rainforests and promote regenerating rainforest areas which are of significance, and

(c) to preserve areas of significant vegetation stands and to promote the regeneration of forests and eradication of vegetation which competes with native flora, and

(d) to protect wildlife and associated habitats and to protect and promote wildlife corridors, and

(e) to exclude activities which would prejudice the ongoing conservation or rehabilitation of land referred to in paragraph (a), and

(f) to encourage and allow activities which will meet the conservation objectives, and

(g) to protect water sources that are to be used for drinking water purposes.

(2) Development in an area of high conservation value is prohibited other than for the purposes of a public road, care-giving services, cottage industries carried out in association with a dwelling, the regeneration of native forests, removal of noxious weeds, removal of nominated exotic plants and development allowed by clause 38.

(3) The Council must not consent to development for the purposes of a public road on any land within a zone that is in an area of high conservation value unless it is satisfied that—

(a) there is no alternative site for the proposed development on land within an adjoining zone, and

(b) there is no reasonable alternative site for the proposed development on land within the zone that is not in an area of high conservation value, and

(c) the proposed development will not have a detrimental impact on the visual quality of the area, and

(d) the proposed development will be designed and sited so as to be visually unobtrusive from any other public place, and

(e) the amount of vegetation proposed to be removed is as little as possible, and