Chair of Local Land Services, Richard Bull has announced a single statewide plan to allow consistent management of more than half a million hectares of travelling stock reserves (TSRs) across NSW.
The draft TSR Plan of Management is on public exhibition at the Local Land Services website until Friday 21 December 2018.
“A key component of this plan of management is the consistent classification of TSRs, regardless of which part of the state they are in,” Mr Bull said.
“We have worked closely with Crown Lands staff and held extensive consultations with communities and stakeholders to develop a draft plan that is based on solid evidence about what TSRS are used and valued for today.
“This approach will allow us to work with local communities to determine how they should be used in the future and to look for other sources of funding to manage the reserves in the future.”
It follows a comprehensive review of the state’s TSR network, which found TSRs have a range of economic, cultural, recreational and environmental uses and values.
The draft TSR Plan of Management was a key outcome of the review and would guide management of the 534,000 hectares of TSRs managed by Local Land Services in the Central and Eastern Division.
In the past year, the NSW Government has invested an additional $2 million to improve infrastructure on these TSRs, including better watering points.
Local Land Services is responsible for approximately 534,000 hectares of TSRs, which represents almost 30 per cent of the TSR network across the state.
While the government is committed to maintaining a viable, well maintained and connected TSR network for the future, until now it has relied on revenue from those people who lease TSRs or use them for grazing stock.
“There have been several reviews associated with TSRs in recent years and we highly value the input we have received to this process from stakeholders across local communities,” Mr Bull said.
“Now that we have an understanding of TSR usage across NSW, we will be better placed to make sure that indigenous, conservation, livestock, production, recreation and community values are managed across the network.”
The draft plan of management demonstrates a renewed commitment to working with the community and a focus on a quality assurance and control process that recognises the statewide significance of the TSR network.
Each regional Local Land Services local board will adopt a local annual operational plan to drive activities and spending on TSRs in their region. These operational plans will see the state plan implemented at the local level.
Comments are welcome until 21 December 2018.