Property vegetation plans

A property vegetation plan (PVP) is a voluntary, legally binding agreement between a landholder and Local Land Services, and may have been obtained for a number of reasons, including:

• to obtain clearing approval, and to secure any offsets associated with that clearing
• to confirm that native vegetation on a property is regrowth, providing a landholder with assurance that they will not need future clearing approval
• to change the regrowth date of native vegetation to an earlier date, provided that landholders can demonstrate a history of rotational farming practices on the land
• to confirm whether existing rotational farming, grazing or cultivation practices meet the definitions of these in the Act so that clearing approval will not be required
• applying for native vegetation incentive funding.

Varying a property vegetation plan

No new PVPs can be submitted by a landholder. However, a landholder can apply to have an existing PVP modified (varied). The variation type depends on the type of PVP and whether or not none, part, or all of the clearing has taken place:

• Where no clearing has occurred, a PVP can be varied to bring forward the end date. This removes the offset management obligations for the PVP.
• Where clearing has occurred or incentive funding has been paid, a PVP may be varied. For example, the management actions negotiated on an offset area may be modified to capture new management practices on a property.
• Where partial, but not all clearing has occurred, a PVP can be brought to an end. A mandatory code compliant certificate is issued and the offset area is re-calculated as a set-aside area and is based on the area of clearing already undertaken.

For more information about how or why a PVP can be varied, please contact Local Land Services.

Native Vegetation Act 2003 public register

Because PVPs are agreements that affect the land, it is essential that they apply to the land despite any change of landholder – that is, they ‘run with the land’.

To ensure that PVPs are binding on successors in title, an abstract of the PVP must be registered on the public register and kept by the Land and Property Management Authority under the Real Property Act 1900.

The native vegetation public register is the central place where any person (for example, prospective purchasers) can find out what interests affect the land.