Farmer successfully appealed: The Department of Infrastructure,
Planning and Natural Resources last year stopped legal action against
the farmer, Joseph Holmes, after he successfully appealed against a
remediation order that would have forced him to fence off the cleared
area and cease further clearing.
Legal action aimed to prevent further clearing: The NSW land
clearing campaigner for the Wilderness Society, Reece Turner, accused
the department of bungling the case and making farmers think illegal
clearing would go unpunished. In what is believed to be a state first,
the society has launched its own legal action against Holmes in the
Land and Environment Court, to prevent further clearing and return the
land to its original state.
Volume of actions to control clearing: The department said 12
cases of illegal land clearing had been prosecuted since 2002. A
further 21 stop work orders, 69 remediation notices, 60 remediation
agreements and 361 warning letters had been issued. The court is
expected to decide on Thursday whether to grant an injunction.
“All hot air and bullshit”: But Holmes called the legal action
“all hot air and bullshit”. Recent raking and burning on the property
was permitted, he said. “I’m not allowed to do any more clearing under
the property plan. There’s been work done up there, but not clearing.”
The Sydney Morning Herald, 3/4/2006, p. 6
Source: Erisk