Soil Conservation Act 1986

This Act may be cited as the Soil Conservation Act 1986.

[repealed]

[repealed]

[repealed]

A regulation may provide that a local government must not, without the chief executive’s consent, approve a plan of subdivision of land specified in the regulation, if the land is the subject of an approved plan.

If a regulation mentioned in subsection (1) is made, the chief executive may withhold consent to a subdivision if the chief executive considers the subdivision would hinder or prevent the effective operation of an approved plan.

In this Act—

approved form see section 40A.

approved plan means an approved property or project plan.

approved project plan means a soil conservation project plan, and amendments thereof, approved under part 4.

approved property plan means a soil conservation property plan, and amendments thereof, approved under part 3.

Area...

chief executive...

contiguous, with reference to land, includes land which is separated only by a gazetted road, stock route, drainage easement or similar reserve or easement.

Director-General...

farm land means land used or about to be used for agricultural, pastoral or forestry production.

Local Authority...

Minister...

occupier means the person in actual occupation of land or if there is no person in actual occupation the person entitled to possession of the land.

owner means the person other than the Crown or a person representing the Crown who for the time being is entitled to receive the rents or profits of the land in connection with which the word is used, and includes a statutory authority and a person who is the holder of a lease, licence or permit from the Crown or a person deriving title thereunder.

project area means a soil conservation project area constituted in accordance with part 4.

QIDC...

run-off water means water which accumulates on the soil surface as a result of rainfall and flows over the soil surface from higher to lower land.

soil conservation means the prevention or mitigation of soil erosion.

soil conservation measures means works, land management practices, undertakings, acts, proposals, prohibitions and things designed, carried out, enforced or proposed to be carried out or enforced pursuant to this Act for the purpose of soil conservation or controlling or directing run-off water flow or for another purpose within the scope of this Act.

soil erosion means the natural or accelerated removal or deposition of soil which may be detrimental to agricultural, pastoral, or forestry activities, or engineering works of a public utility.

statutory authority means—

a local government; or

the chief executive of the department in which the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 is administered; or

a river improvement trust; or

another entity that is a corporation under an Act.

works means structures necessary for soil conservation and operations incidental thereto and includes works required to be done by or pursuant to this Act.

The functions and duties of the chief executive with respect to matters pertaining to soil conservation shall be—

the dissemination of information with regard to soil conservation;

instruction concerning and assistance in matters pertaining to soil conservation;

the carrying out of investigations to ascertain the nature and extent of soil erosion throughout the State;

the investigation and design of soil conservation measures, and the planning of the utilisation of land to give effect to those measures;

the carrying out of experiments in soil conservation and the establishment of soil conservation demonstration areas;

the recording and publishing of the results of those investigations, designs, experiments, and demonstration areas;

such other functions and duties as are prescribed by regulation.

The chief executive may—

by agreement with an occupier or owner, conduct or cause to be conducted experiments and demonstrations pertaining to soil conservation on any land;

employ as many persons as may be required for the conduct of those experiments and demonstrations;

appoint such committees as the chief executive considers necessary or desirable to assist the chief executive in carrying this Act into effect.

A committee appointed under subsection (1) may exercise the powers and perform the functions and duties as are conferred or imposed upon it by the chief executive and are consistent with the provisions of this Act.

A person appointed to a committee under this section may be paid expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred by the person in attending meetings of the committee or in connection with the discharge of the person’s functions or duties under this Act and approved by the chief executive.

For a purpose of or connected with the exercise or performance of a power, function or duty conferred or imposed by or pursuant to this Act the chief executive may enter upon land to—

make a plan or survey, or take levels;

place, make, affix or set up survey pegs, marks or poles and alter, remove, inspect, reinstate or repair the same;

dig or bore for the purpose of works thereon or to ascertain the nature of the soil therein;

make an inspection or examination including examining whether a provision of this Act or any requisition, notice or order issued pursuant to this Act is being complied with or contravened;

do all other acts as are reasonably necessary for a purpose referred to in this Act.

The power to enter upon land includes power to re-enter and to remain upon that land for such time as is necessary to achieve the purpose of entry, and to take such assistants, vehicles, materials, equipment or things as are necessary to achieve the purpose of entry.

When the purpose of entry on land is to carry out works to effect compliance with a requisition, notice or order issued pursuant to this Act, the occupier of the land shall be given at least 7 days notice of intention to enter upon the occupier’s land.

[repealed]

An owner may make application to the chief executive for approval of a property plan for soil conservation for an area of land, in this part referred to as the subject land, owned by the owner.

A property plan shall delineate the boundaries of the subject land and comprise a map and specifications which describe all soil conservation measures, undertakings, acts, proposals, prohibitions and things designed, carried out, enforced or proposed to be carried out or enforced pursuant to this Act for the purpose of soil conservation or of controlling or directing run-off water flow or for any over purpose within the scope of this Act.

For the purpose of this part, land shall be deemed to be affected by the implementation, amendment or revocation of a property plan where it—

is owned by a person other than the owner of the subject land; and

is contiguous to the subject land; and

discharges run-off water from a catchment area greater than 2 ha, under natural or controlled flow conditions, directly or indirectly onto the subject land or receives run-off water directly or indirectly from the subject land, and where the implementation, amendment or revocation of a property plan on the subject land would—

change the area contributing run-off water to a point on the contiguous boundary with the lower land by more than 10%; or

change the location of receipt of run-off water from the subject land; or

increase the risk of damage to the lower land in the event of failure of the proposed works.

Where land other than the subject land would not be affected by the implementation of a property plan, the chief executive may, with the agreement of the owner of the subject land, approve the plan.

Where land other than the subject land would be affected by the implementation of a property plan, the chief executive shall ensure that all reasonable efforts are made to discuss the plan with all the owners of affected land and the subject land, and on receipt of written advice that all those owners have no objection to the plan the chief executive may approve the plan.

Where the chief executive intends to approve a property plan and can not obtain written advice that all the owners of affected land and the subject land have no objection to the plan, the chief executive shall—

by notice specifying the name of the registered owner of the subject land and providing a property description of the subject land sufficient to enable its identification, published at least once in at least 1 newspaper circulating in the locality of the subject land, give notice that the plan and all matters relevant to it are open for inspection at the department’s office serving the subject land for a period determined by the chief executive, being not less than 21 days from the date of first publication of the notice and that objections to the plan may be lodged in accordance with the provisions of part 5; and

serve on, or by post forward to, all the owners, or where an owner is not in occupation, the occupier, of affected land a copy of the notice referred to in paragraph (a) and a copy of the plan.

Where no objection is lodged within the period referred to in subsection (6), the chief executive may approve the property plan.

Where an objection to the proposed property plan is lodged but there is no appeal against the chief executive’s determination of that objection, or an appeal is lodged but withdrawn, the chief executive may approve the plan, modified where applicable to incorporate those determinations.

Where an appeal is determined by the Land Court the chief executive may approve the property plan, modified where applicable to incorporate the determinations of the Land Court and those of the chief executive not appealed against.

Where a property plan is approved, the chief executive shall give written notice of that approval together with a copy of the approved plan to—

the owner, or where the owner is not in occupation, the occupier, of the subject land and any affected land; and

the local government for the area in which the subject land and any affected land is situated.

Where the chief executive is of the opinion that the discharge or receipt of run-off water onto or across a property boundary is not in accordance with an approved property plan, the chief executive may give a run-off coordination notice to the owner, or where the owner is not in occupation then the occupier, of the land from or on which the run-off water is being discharged or received, as the case may be.

A run-off coordination notice may require the person to whom it is given to do any of the following, to discharge or receive run-off water onto or across a property boundary in accordance with an approved property plan—

to remove, alter or repair a bank, channel, ditch, vegetation or thing whether constructed, excavated or accumulated by nature or by the act of humans or to refrain from construction, excavation or accumulation of the bank, channel, ditch, vegetation or thing as aforesaid;

to undertake, construct, excavate or maintain such soil conservation measures as are specified in the plan.

A run-off coordination notice shall specify the period of time within which all the matters specified in the notice shall be completed and may require any of those matters to be done under the supervision of a delegate of the chief executive.

Notwithstanding section 38, where a person fails to comply with a run-off coordination notice the chief executive may apply to the Supreme Court for an order or an injunction directing that person to comply with or, as the case may be, to refrain from contravening the notice.

For the purposes of an application made pursuant to subsection (4) the chief executive shall be deemed to possess a sufficient interest or right in law to support the granting of such a remedy.

An owner of subject or affected land may make application in writing to the chief executive for amendment to an approved property plan.

The provisions of section 10, with and subject to all necessary adaptations, shall apply to an application made pursuant to subsection (1) as if that application were an application under section 10.