Frequently Asked Questions

The draft mapping is available on Council's website via Online maps so that you can view this information at a property scale.

A copy of the draft land zoning maps are provided in pdf format under 'Project Information'.

Council staff will be available during the exhibition period to discuss any specific enquiries you may have.

If you have more than a few simple questions, and would like to view and discuss the mapping, you are encouraged to book an appointment.

Phone 1300 864 444 to speak to a Ballina Shire Council staff member.

Conservation zones (or 'C' zones) are designed to protect areas that have important environmental values.

The following C zones are being introduced into the Ballina Local Environmental Plan 2012:

C2 - Environmental Conservation

The C2 zone is used to protect land that has high conservation values, e.g. littoral rainforest, coastal wetlands, endangered ecological communities, threatened species habitat and over-cleared vegetation communities.

C3 - Environmental Management

The C3 zone is used to protect land that has special ecological values that require careful management, e.g. land containing riparian/estuarine vegetation, or rare, endangered and vulnerable forest ecosystems.

The Northern Councils E Zone Review Final Recommendations Report sets out a range of ecological criteria that land must meet before it qualifies for a Conservation zone.

The six C2 zone criteria are:

• Mapped littoral rainforest identified in legislation
• Mapped coastal wetland identified in legislation
• Endangered Ecological Communities that are identified in legislation
• Key threatened species habitat
• Over-cleared vegetation communities
• Culturally significant lands.

The three C3 zone criteria are:

• Riparian and estuarine vegetation and wetlands
• Rare, endangered and vulnerable forest ecosystems
• Native vegetation on coastal foreshores.

Any land proposed for a C zone must contain at least one of the above ecological criteria, and this must be verified using aerial imagery, field survey or consultation with land owners.

The Ballina Shire Council C Zone Review Methodology Report describes in technical detail how Council has applied C zones and met the requirements of the Final Recommendations Report. 

Council has used at least one of the following methods to verify which land meets the C zone criteria and therefore has been mapped as a C zone:

• Aerial photo interpretation of recent (2018), high-resolution aerial imagery
• Field inspection
• Flora and fauna reports that are less than 5 years old.

The Final Recommendations Report says that a C zone should only be applied if the 'Primary Use' of the land over the past two years has been 'environmental'.

Primary Land Use is defined as "the main use of the land over the past two years" based on evidence about the nature of activities that have been taking place there.  If the main use is for rural or farming operations, agricultural practices need to be demonstrated.

A Primary Use of 'environmental' needs to demonstrate the environmental values of the land and vegetation, and the absence of any agricultural or other land use needs to be confirmed.

Depending on the characteristics of the land, the primary use may vary across a single property.

Council has identified three categories of primary use:

• Environmental - applies where there is bushland or wetlands where natural ecological processes are the dominant feature.
• Agriculture - applies to all areas dominated by cropping, horticulture, pasture management, grazing and other forms of agriculture.
• Other - applies to all remaining areas not covered by the environmental or agriculture categories and includes urban areas and developed open spaces.

If you believe the Primary Land Use that has been assigned to your land is incorrect, you have the opportunity through this consultation to request a review.  Your request will need to be supported by evidence that proves the land has been used for a different purpose over the past two years.

In most instances Council can apply a C zone without a landowner's agreement, as long as the land meets the criteria set out in the NSW Government's Northern Councils E Zone Review Final Recommendations Report.

Council must notify the landowner before making any changes to the zoning of the land, whether that be to a C zone or any other zone, and give them the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed change.

The purpose of this consultation is designed to:

• provide written notification to landowners whose properties have been drafted for a zone change, and
• assist landowners and the community to understand how the draft mapping has been developed, to identify any inconsistencies and allow landowners to view, understand and provide feedback on the proposed changes, before they are formally adopted.

C zones proposed on private land are almost entirely in areas of native vegetation, that is often steep, swampy or isolated.  The potential for development of that land is already inherently limited for these and other reasons.  The perception of loss because the permissible uses have changed is, in most cases, worse than the reality of trying to develop such highly constrained land.

Council is conducting this consultation to help landowners understand how and why C zones are being allocated to their land, so that you can review the proposed mapping and compare it to what you know about your property.

Most of the mapping has been created using existing vegetation mapping and verified using aerial photos.  We know that there will be some situations where what is on the ground may not match up with the mapping that has been proposed.

We are encouraging landowners to let us know whether we got the mapping on their property right.  If you don’t think the mapping on your property matches what is actually on the ground, this is your opportunity to let us know why.  For example, you should let us know if you don’t think the vegetation communities on your land meet the C zone criteria, or if the way you have been using your land for the past 2 years doesn’t match the primary land use we have identified.

A C zone on your land does not mean you must stop your farming.

Council’s zoning review, and the NSW Government’s Northern Council's E Zone Review Final Recommendations Report aims to support rural activities while also providing better protection for the environment.

Extensive agriculture is permitted without consent in the new C3 Environmental Management zone.   This means that new extensive agriculture activities can take place in the C3 zone, at any time, without the need for Council approval.

 Extensive agriculture is also permitted in the C2 Environmental Conservation zone, but does need DA approval first.

Extensive agriculture (as defined in Ballina LEP 2012) includes any of the following activities:

• the production of crops or fodder (including irrigated pasture and fodder crops) for commercial purposes;
• the grazing of livestock (other than pigs and poultry) for commercial purposes;
• bee keeping; or
• a dairy (pasture-based).

If all or some of your farm is rezoned to a C zone, other types of farming activities that are not extensive agriculture may become prohibited.

If you have approval and were carrying out your other farming activities legally before the zoning change, you can continue because you are protected under existing use rights. Please see Fact Sheet 5: Existing use rights for more details.

We encourage you to contact us if you feel that your existing rural operations will be disrupted because of a C zone on your land.

Land that has been voluntarily revegetated will not have a C zone applied to it without the landowner’s agreement, unless the revegetation was undertaken with grant funding that required ongoing protection of the vegetation.

Yes.  Any private land can be given a C zone at the request of the landowner, whether or not it meets the ecological criteria.

Council will consider any voluntary landholder requests to apply a Conservation zone to private property.

There is little, if any, evidence to support the idea that having a C zone on your land will impact its market value. 

Existing local and state planning controls (eg. vegetation clearing controls, regulations relating to coastal wetlands, littoral rainforest, koala habitat and bushfire risk) and the physical features of the land (eg. steep land, flood prone land) already limit development potential in most areas that are proposed for a C zone.   A proposed C zone simply reflects those existing limitations. 

Land values on the NSW Far North Coast are among the highest in the state and continue to rise.  We do know that environmental values are at least part of the appeal of the region. 

It is very difficult to measure whether having a C zone either reduces or increases property prices.