Secretary, Department of Planning and Environment v Keelendi Farms Pty Ltd; Secretary, Department of Planning and Environment v Timothy Justin O'Brien; Secretary, Department of Planning and Environment v T J O'Brien Investments Pty Ltd; Secretary, Department of Planning and Environment v Edenmore Farms Pty Ltd (No 3)

[2026] NSWLEC 47

NSW Land and Environment Court

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENCES: corporate defendants charged with the clearing of
1. native vegetation across two properties
2. › two corporate
1. defendants charged
1. as landholders
2. › third corporate defendant is the entity that managed the

Quick Take

The Court found all four defendants not guilty of unlawful clearing of native vegetation under s 60N of the Local Land Services Act 2013, holding that the prosecutor failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants cleared native vegetation by the application of herbicide in the charge areas during the charge periods. Critical to the acquittal was the disconnect between the aerial imagery evidence (which showed vegetation changes from 13 February 2020) and the documentary evidence establishing that the first aerial herbicide application did not occur until 10 March 2020, making it implausible that observed changes over the earlier charge period were caused by poisoning as particularised. The Court also found that the complex farming and cropping history of the properties, including prior mechanical clearing and ongoing weed suppression, meant it could not be established beyond reasonable doubt that what was allegedly cleared constituted 'native vegetation' rather than weeds or regrowth, nor that the expert evidence of vegetation damage was attributable to spraying during the charge periods rather than later agricultural activities.