National Park Estate (Reservations) Act 2005

This Act is the National Park Estate (Reservations) Act 2005.

This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act.

In this Act:

Crown land has the same meaning as in the Crown Land Management Act 2016.

NPW Minister means the Minister administering Divisions 1 and 2 of Part 4 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.

State forest means land dedicated under the Forestry Act 1916 (or under the former Forestry Act 1909) as a State forest, being a dedication that is in force.

Notes included in this Act do not form part of this Act.

The dedication as State forest of the following lands is revoked:

lands described in Schedule 1,

lands described in Schedule 3,

lands described in Schedule 4.

The lands described in Schedule 1 are reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 as, or as part of, national parks or state conservation areas (as indicated in that Schedule).

Subsection (1) does not apply to any land described in Schedule 1 that is also described in Schedule 3.

The land described in Schedule 2 is reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 as part of Tallaganda State Conservation Area.

Any timber reserves (within the meaning of the Forestry Act 1916) with respect to land referred to in subsection (1) are revoked by this Act, but only to the extent to which they relate to timber reserves or parts of timber reserves situated within that land.

The lands described in Schedule 3 vest in the NPW Minister on behalf of the Crown for the purposes of Part 11 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 for an estate in fee simple, freed and discharged from:

all trusts, obligations, estates, interests, rights of way or other easements, and

any dedication, reservation, Crown grant or vesting to which the lands were subject, and any such dedication, reservation, grant or vesting is revoked.

Despite subsection (1), the lands described in Part 1 of Schedule 3 are not freed and discharged from any continued perpetual lease within the meaning of Schedule 1 to the Crown Land Management Act 2016 to which the lands were subject immediately before their vesting under this section.

Any land described in Schedule 4 that was Crown land immediately before the repeal of the Crown Lands Act 1989 continues to be Crown land that is subject to the Crown Land Management Act 2016.

The lands described in Schedule 5 that are within State forests are declared to be special management zones under section 21A of the Forestry Act 1916.

The description of any land in Schedule 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 (a relevant Schedule) may be adjusted in accordance with this section.

A description of land may be adjusted from time to time:

to alter the boundaries of the land for the purposes of the effective management of national park estate land and State forest land, including adjustments to enable boundaries to follow distinctive land features, to provide access to land or to rationalise the boundaries of similar areas of land, or

to adjust the boundary of any land adjoining a public road, including adjustments to enable the boundary to follow the formed path of the road or to provide an appropriate set back from the carriageway of the road, or

to include, remove or change a description of any easement or restriction to which the land is subject, or

to provide a more detailed description of the boundaries of the land.

An adjustment of the description of land is to be made by the Director-General of the Department of Environment and Conservation by a notice published on the NSW legislation website that amends a relevant Schedule.

A notice under this section may only be published with the approval of:

the NPW Minister, and

the Minister administering the Forestry Act 1916, and

to the extent that the notice applies to any Crown land described in Schedule 4 (other than land reserved or dedicated under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 or the Forestry Act 1916)—the Minister administering the Crown Land Management Act 2016, and

to the extent that the notice applies to a classified road—the Minister administering the provisions of the Roads Act 1993 relating to classified roads.

The Director-General of the Department of Environment and Conservation is required to certify in any notice under this section that the adjustments effected by the notice will not result in any significant reduction in the size or value of national park estate land or State forest land.

An adjustment of the description of land may only be made before:

31 March 2006, except as provided by paragraph (b), or

31 December 2009, in the case of an adjustment of the description of land in Schedule 3 or of the boundary of land adjoining a public road.

If any of the land described in a relevant Schedule on the commencement of this Act is not included in the adjusted description of the land, the land that is not so included is taken never to have been subject to or affected by the provisions of this Act applying to land described in the relevant Schedule.

If land included in the adjusted description of the land includes any land not described in a relevant Schedule on the commencement of this Act, the land concerned is taken to have been subject, on and from the commencement of this Act, to the provisions of this Act applying to land described in the relevant Schedule.

The Director-General of the Department of Environment and Conservation may, in a notice published under this section for the purpose of adjusting the boundary of land adjoining a public road, declare that:

any such land (described in the notice) is part of the public road and, accordingly, is vested in the roads authority for that public road under the Roads Act 1993 or is Crown land, or

any such land (described in the notice) ceases to be part of that public road and, accordingly, is divested from the relevant roads authority or the Crown and becomes part of the land subject to the provisions of this Act applying to land described in the relevant Schedule in which the land is included.

A declaration under this subsection has effect according to its tenor, despite anything to the contrary in the Roads Act 1993.

In this section:

classified road and public road have the same meanings as in the Roads Act 1993.

land adjoining a public road includes land in the vicinity of a public road.

national park estate land means:

land reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, or

land dedicated or set apart as a flora reserve under the Forestry Act 1916, or

land declared as a special management zone under the Forestry Act 1916, or

land vested in the NPW Minister for the purposes of Part 11 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.

Anything done before the commencement of the amendment to subsection (4) (c) by the National Parks and Wildlife Amendment Act 2010 that would have been validly done had that amendment been in force when it was done is validated.

Schedule 6 has effect.

This Act binds the Crown in right of New South Wales and, in so far as the legislative power of the Parliament of New South Wales permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.