All reports now include the percentage of your property covered by the Biodiversity Values Map
All checkthisproperty.com.au property reports now include a feature which can tell you how much of a property is covered by the NSW Biodiversity Values Map.
Introduced in 2017, the Biodiversity Values map identifies land including core koala habitat, coastal and declared Ramsar wetlands, old growth forest and rainforest, land containing threatened species or ecological communities, protected riparian land, high conservation value grasslands or groundcover and other declared areas of outstanding biodiversity value.
The Biodiversity Values Map was prepared by the Department of Planning and Environment as per Part 7 of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. Its purpose is to maintain a healthy, productive and resilient environment for the greatest well-being of the community.
Local Councils and NSW Government agencies look after the mapping data and if you have this biodiversity values land zoning on your property, then you may have issues resulting in increased cost or complexity when it comes to land clearing or your proposed development, such a house extension.
Having the zoning on your property is one way of identifying whether a Development Application (DA) or land clearing from any part of your site requires a Biodiversity Offset Scheme to be applied.
There are two parts to the Biodiversity Offset Scheme which usually result in either buying biodiversity credits at another location to offset the impact of your land clearing or development, or selling biodiversity credits and agreeing to keep a site on your property that you will protect and look after.
Please visit this website for more information on whether NSW Government’s Biodiversity Offsets Scheme can apply to your site.
There are three questions that need to be answered for the Biodiversity Offset Scheme assessment.
First Question: Are you planning to clear land? If so, is the amount of native vegetation to be cleared more the amounts in the Table 1?
Table 1: Minimum threshold for clearing above which the Biodiversity Offset Scheme applies
| Property size | Minimum threshold for clearing above which the Biodiversity Offset Scheme applies |
| Less than 10,000m2 or 1 hectare (ha) | 0.25ha |
| 1ha to less than 40ha | 0.5ha |
| 40ha to less than 1,000ha | 1ha |
| Greater than 1,000ha | 2ha |
Second Question : Is the development or land clearing proposed to occur on land that is shaded on the Biodiversity Values Map? All CheckThisProperty.com.au property reports for New South Wales identify the percentage of land on the Biodiversity Values Map within the boundary of the searched property address. A more detailed search would be required to determine whether you are in the shaded area on the Biodiversity Values Map.
Third Question : Does the property require a Test of Significance?
Even if you answered no to the first or second question, if the property is likely to contain threatened species, ecological communities or their habitats, an expert must undertake a Test of Significance. If the result of the test is that development or activity (such as land clearing) will likely result in a significant impact, then this will also require a Biodiversity Offset Scheme to manage the impact. For more information on this test, visit the NSW Department of Planning & Environment’s Threatened Species Test Significance Guidelines Threatened Species Test of Significance website.
If any of the answers to the three questions above are yes, then the Biodiversity Offset Scheme will apply to your property and you will need to hire an accredited Ecological Consultant to review the environmental impacts and prepare a Biodiversity Development Assessment Report to submitted as part of your Development Application (DA). To help you find someone that can help, this link contains a register of Ecological Consultants that are accredited to complete this report, which may include the requirement to pay money to buy a credit.
If you answer no to all three questions, then you will need a detailed Flora and Fauna report to be submitted with your Development Application (DA) where vegetation is going to be removed, clearly showing why the DA doesn’t require a Biodiversity Offset Scheme.
All our reports for New South Wales addresses include the properties identified on the NSW Biodiversity Values Map and the percentage of each address that is covered. It is constantly updated in real time so you will always have access to the latest information. Find out today whether your property has this zoning. For more information, please visit the following link and please email info@checkthisproperty.com.au for assistance.