Part 5Land management and protection

Part 5—Land management and protection 41—Property plans (1) If the Board is of the opinion that pastoral land has, from any cause, been damaged, or is likely to suffer damage or deteriorate, and that in order to prevent, arrest or minimise damage to or deterioration of the land, or to rehabilitate the land, it is necessary that action under this section be taken, the Board may, by notice in writing to the lessee, require the lessee— (a) to submit to the Board a plan (a property plan) detailing the proposed management of the pastoral land over a specified period; or (b) to submit to the Board a revised property plan, in accordance with the terms of the notice. (2) The Board must not, in exercising its powers under subsection (1), act capriciously or vexatiously. (3) A property plan must contain such information as the Board may require. (4) The Board may— (a) approve, by endorsement, a property plan or revised property plan; or (b) refer the plan back to the lessee for modification; or (c) reject the plan and— (i) require, by notice in writing, the lessee to submit a fresh plan; or (ii) prepare (or revise, as the case may be) a property plan itself and recover the cost of doing so from the lessee as a debt. (5) If a lessee fails to comply with a notice under subsection (1) or (4), the Board may prepare a property plan or revised property plan in respect of the pastoral land and recover the cost of doing so from the lessee as a debt. (6) A property plan or revised property plan prepared by the Board pursuant to subsection (4) or (5) will be taken to be an approved property plan for the land to which it relates. (7) The Board may, by endorsement, approve a property plan voluntarily submitted to the Board by a lessee. (8) An approved property plan may, with the approval of the Board, be varied by the lessee. (9) A property plan or revised property plan must be prepared in consultation with the regional landscape board for the region in which the pastoral land to which the plan relates is located. (9a) Where a proposed property plan (including a property plan prepared or revised by the Board) includes or will include an activity for which a permit would, but for section 106 of the Landscape South Australia Act 2019, be required under that Act, the Board must not approve the plan or prepare or revise it without first consulting and having regard to the views of the authority under that Act to whom an application for a permit for that activity would otherwise have to be made. (10) If a lessee fails, without reasonable excuse— (a) to comply with a notice under subsection (1) or (4); or (b) to implement an approved property plan, the failure constitutes a breach of the conditions of the pastoral lease. 42—Verification of stock levels (1) Subject to subsection (1a), the lessee under a pastoral lease must, not later than 31 July in each year, furnish the Board with a statutory declaration as to stock levels on the pastoral land as at 30 June of that year. (1a) If pastoral land is being used for a purpose other than pastoral purposes (with the approval of the Board in accordance with this Act), the Board may exempt the lessee from the requirement to provide a statutory declaration under this section. (2) For the purpose of ascertaining at any time the amount of stock on pastoral land, or on any particular area of pastoral land, the Board may, by notice in writing to the lessee— (a) require the lessee to furnish the Board, within a specified time, with a statutory declaration as to stock levels on the land; or (b) require the lessee to muster stock in accordance with the terms of the notice in order to allow a person authorised by the Minister to count the stock. (3) A statutory declaration furnished pursuant to this section must contain such information as the Board may require. (4) If a lessee fails to comply with a notice under subsection (2)(b), the Board may cause the muster to be carried out and, subject to subsection (5), may recover the cost of doing so from the lessee as a debt. (5) If a muster carried out pursuant to this section verifies that the stock levels as declared by the lessee in accordance with this section were accurate, the cost of carrying out the muster will be borne by the Crown. (6) A declaration as to stock levels will be taken to be accurate if a subsequent muster finds that the numbers of stock on the land are less than or do not exceed by more than 10 per cent the declared levels. (7) If a lessee fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement of, or notice under, this section, the failure constitutes a breach of the conditions of the pastoral lease. 43—Notices to destock or take other action (1) If the Board is of the opinion that pastoral land has, from any cause, been damaged, or is likely to suffer damage or deteriorate, and that in order to prevent, arrest or minimise damage to or deterioration of the land, or to rehabilitate the land, it is necessary that action under this section be taken, the Board may, by notice in writing to the lessee, require the lessee to do any one or more of the following: (a) remove a specified number of stock from the land or a particular part of the land; (b) keep the amount of stock on the land or a particular part of the land to a specified level, or to keep no stock at all on that land; (c) carry out specified improvements to or land treatment works on the land; (d) adopt or desist from specified land management practices, in accordance with the terms of the notice. (2) A notice under subsection (1) may provide— (a) that it is to have effect for a specified period; or (b) that it is to have effect until the Board, on the application of the lessee, directs that the notice cease to operate. (2a) Where the Board proposes to issue or vary a notice under subsection (1) that would require a lessee to undertake an activity for which a permit would, but for section 106 of the Landscape South Australia Act 2019, be required under that Act, the Board must not issue or vary the notice without first consulting and having regard to the views of the authority under that Act to whom an application for a permit for that activity would otherwise have to be made. (3) The Board may, by notice in writing to the lessee, vary or revoke a notice under this section. (4) If a lessee fails to comply with a notice under subsection (1), the Board may cause the required action to be carried out and may recover the cost of doing so from the lessee as a debt. (5) If a lessee fails to comply with a notice under subsection (1), the failure constitutes a breach of the conditions of the pastoral lease. 44—Reference areas (1) The Board may, by notice in the Gazette, declare a specified area of pastoral land to be a reference area for the purposes of evaluating the effect that the grazing of stock has on the land. (2) A reference area— (a) cannot exceed one square kilometre in size; and (b) will, where necessary, be fenced by the Minister. (3) A lessee is not obliged to maintain a reference area or its fences, subject to any agreement between the lessee and the Minister to the contrary. (4) The lessee of pastoral land on which a reference area is established— (a) must not, if the area is fenced, allow any stock within the reference area; and (b) must, if the Board so requires, inspect the area and its fences and make reports to the Board in accordance with the directions of the Board. Maximum penalty: $5 000. (5) The Board may, by notice in the Gazette, vary or revoke a notice under this section. (6) The lessee of pastoral land on which a reference area is established is not entitled to compensation for any reduction in the value of the lease resulting from the establishment of the reference area, but any such reduction in value will be taken into account when the lease is next revalued for the purposes of rent determination.