❓ A WA parliamentary question addresses the Department of Environment regarding the implementation of new native vegetation clearing regulations, focusing on application processing times, flora surveys, and potential resource constraints for consulting botanists.
AnsweredQoN 3275Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) How many applications to clear native vegetation have been received by the Department of Environment since new clearing regulations came into effect on 8 July 2004?
(2) How many of these applications have been finalised?
(3) What is the expected length of time needed by the Department for a clearing permit to be assessed and decided upon?
(4) Of the current 250-odd applications, how many have been told by the Department that they will need to undertake surveys for rare and endangered flora, with a requirement to be applied that such surveys must be conducted between 1 September and 30 November each year?
(5) If all flora surveys within the south west land division must be conducted during the months of spring, does this indicate that it will take, on average, at least one year for a typical clearing permit to be issued?
(6) How does the Department intend to manage or otherwise assist in managing the huge demands that will be placed on consulting botanists who will be unlikely to be able to meet all of the demands placed on their time if vegetation surveys can only be conducted during three months of the year?
(2) How many of these applications have been finalised?
(3) What is the expected length of time needed by the Department for a clearing permit to be assessed and decided upon?
(4) Of the current 250-odd applications, how many have been told by the Department that they will need to undertake surveys for rare and endangered flora, with a requirement to be applied that such surveys must be conducted between 1 September and 30 November each year?
(5) If all flora surveys within the south west land division must be conducted during the months of spring, does this indicate that it will take, on average, at least one year for a typical clearing permit to be issued?
(6) How does the Department intend to manage or otherwise assist in managing the huge demands that will be placed on consulting botanists who will be unlikely to be able to meet all of the demands placed on their time if vegetation surveys can only be conducted during three months of the year?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
26 November 2004
Responded by
Minister for the Environment
Response time
30 days
2. Of these, 88 applications have been finalised, ie either granted, refused or withdrawn (after being found exempt). 3. The target time to deal with clearing applications is in the order of that under the Soil and Land Conservation Regulations 1992, which was 90 days. Of the permits that have been granted or refused, this target has been largely met to date. The DoE is developing processes that more efficiently deal with less significant clearing. The target for making a decision on these applications will be in the order of 8 weeks. 4. Three applicants have been instructed to conduct flora surveys. 5. With only 1% of proposals so far requiring flora surveys, and relatively low numbers of applications for the South West Land Division, the average time taken to make a decision is unlikely to increase much above that discussed as for question 3. 6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
3. The target time to deal with clearing applications is in the order of that under the Soil and Land Conservation Regulations 1992, which was 90 days. Of the permits that have been granted or refused, this target has been largely met to date. The DoE is developing processes that more efficiently deal with less significant clearing. The target for making a decision on these applications will be in the order of 8 weeks. 4. Three applicants have been instructed to conduct flora surveys. 5. With only 1% of proposals so far requiring flora surveys, and relatively low numbers of applications for the South West Land Division, the average time taken to make a decision is unlikely to increase much above that discussed as for question 3. 6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
4. Three applicants have been instructed to conduct flora surveys. 5. With only 1% of proposals so far requiring flora surveys, and relatively low numbers of applications for the South West Land Division, the average time taken to make a decision is unlikely to increase much above that discussed as for question 3. 6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
5. With only 1% of proposals so far requiring flora surveys, and relatively low numbers of applications for the South West Land Division, the average time taken to make a decision is unlikely to increase much above that discussed as for question 3. 6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
3. The target time to deal with clearing applications is in the order of that under the Soil and Land Conservation Regulations 1992, which was 90 days. Of the permits that have been granted or refused, this target has been largely met to date. The DoE is developing processes that more efficiently deal with less significant clearing. The target for making a decision on these applications will be in the order of 8 weeks. 4. Three applicants have been instructed to conduct flora surveys. 5. With only 1% of proposals so far requiring flora surveys, and relatively low numbers of applications for the South West Land Division, the average time taken to make a decision is unlikely to increase much above that discussed as for question 3. 6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
4. Three applicants have been instructed to conduct flora surveys. 5. With only 1% of proposals so far requiring flora surveys, and relatively low numbers of applications for the South West Land Division, the average time taken to make a decision is unlikely to increase much above that discussed as for question 3. 6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
5. With only 1% of proposals so far requiring flora surveys, and relatively low numbers of applications for the South West Land Division, the average time taken to make a decision is unlikely to increase much above that discussed as for question 3. 6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
6. Considering the low number of flora surveys required so far, the Department does not expect the requirements for flora surveys will produce a shortage of available consulting botanists.
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