What it does
This Act changes the legal status, ownership and administrative arrangements for a large number of parcels of Crown land and State forest in New South Wales by doing the following, as set out in the operative provisions and the Schedules:
- It revokes the dedication of specified State forests and associated flora-reserve and national-forest notices under the Forestry Act 1916 for the areas listed in Schedule 1, Schedule 4, Schedule 5 and Part 1 of Schedule 6 (s 5). The revocations are limited to the lands described in those Schedules (s 5(1)-(3)).
- It effects the reservation or dedication of the lands described in Schedule 1 as national parks, nature reserves or historic sites under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (s 6), and similarly reserves or dedicates Crown lands listed in Schedule 2 (s 7). Parts of State forests listed in Schedule 3 are set apart as flora reserves under the Forestry Act 1916 (s 8).
- It prescribes special vesting and management arrangements for some transferred parcels: specified former State forest lands are to be Crown land dedicated under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 and managed by a reconstituted National Parks and Wildlife Reserve Trust that is taken to be a statutory land manager with continuing legal identity (s 9). Certain State forests in Schedule 5 vest in the Minister administering the National Parks and Wildlife Act for Part 11 purposes, subject to continued leasehold interests (s 10).
- It allows limited adjustments to the descriptions in Schedules 1-5 by notice from the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife, with Ministerial approvals and a certification as to no significant reduction in size or value, but only during a time-limited window (s 11(1)-(8)).
- It transfers specified former State forest and Crown land to Local Aboriginal Land Councils by treating the Crown Lands Minister as having granted claims under Division 2 of Part 6 of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983, and allows the Crown Lands Minister to survey, exclude areas, make transfers subject to existing interests or conditions (s 12).