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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-04-05 Daily Xml
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ROADSIDE VEGETATION

The Hon. M. PARNELL (14:57): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Regional Development, representing the Minister for Environment and Conservation, about roadside vegetation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: In the highly modified, settled areas of South Australia some of the best and, in fact, often the only remaining vegetation is along our road reserves. Management of roadside vegetation is the responsibility of local councils and the department for transport, which must follow roadside vegetation management plans under the Native Vegetation Act. If they do this, they do not require individual clearance permits and they are not obliged to provide a significant environmental benefit in the form of replanting or protecting vegetation elsewhere or paying money into the Native Vegetation Fund.

In September 2009, amendments to the native vegetation regulations introduced a new regulation 5(1)(lb), a public safety exemption which allows for clearance of native vegetation to be exempt from the need to obtain a permit where that work is necessary to protect public safety. Vegetation cleared under this exemption is also exempt from the need to provide a significant environmental benefit. On the other hand, clearance for new roads or road widening continues to require both a permit and a significant environmental benefit to offset the clearance.

Transport SA, the Local Government Association and staff from the Native Vegetation Council have recently developed a framework that sets out where public safety clearance can take place, thereby avoiding the obligation on government to offset the clearance of native vegetation by providing a significant environmental benefit. The framework was endorsed by the Native Vegetation Council on an interim basis last December and will be reviewed at the end of this year.

The main fear of conservationists is that the removal of financial disincentives will see a massive increase in the removal of large trees on road reserves, under the guise of public safety, without proper consideration of alternatives, such as reducing speed limits in areas where trees grow close to the road. Some of these trees may be hundreds of years old. My questions are:

1. In developing the framework, how were the public safety risks of roadside vegetation assessed against the environmental costs of clearance and the cost of implementing alternative road safety measures, and how will that analysis be conducted as part of the review due later this year?

2. How much native vegetation does the minister expect will be cleared under this framework?

3. How much revenue in terms of contributions to the Native Vegetation Fund will be forgone under this framework?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises) (15:00): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions and will refer them to the relevant minister in another place and bring back a response.

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