Farmers ‘locked out’ of their own land by the NSW government

Farmers in far west NSW say they have been branded criminals for harvesting their crop in the same way it’s been done for more than a ­century.

Annabelle Davis at her Tallimbalong property near West Wyalong in far west NSW

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Farmers in far west NSW say their businesses have been “destroyed” by surprise regulations branding them criminals for harvesting their crop in the same way it’s been done for more than a ­century.

Annabelle Davis and her husband Richard are co-owners and operators of G.R. Davis, Australia’s longest-running commercial eucalyptus oil plantation; growing, distilling and refining oil across 1010ha in West Wyalong.

The business has been in the family since 1949, with the production of eucalypt oil being carried out on the land since 1907.

Up to 90 per cent of the land on their Tallimbalong property is now rendered unusable after the NSW government rolled out a “native vegetation regulatory map” – something the Davises only discovered when a notice of illegal land clearing landed in their mailbox.

The blue mallee they were harvesting has been classified “category 2 – critically endangered” and can no longer be touched.

The notice referenced particular areas of land that had been managed as a part of rotational harvesting and land management system for as long as the family has been on the farm.

The pair believe the area should be classified as “category 1”, which would allow them to continue using the land.

An area growing blue mallee and broombush on the Davis family farm that is now unusable due to its classification as 'critically endangered'. Picture: Annabelle Davis.

Ms Davis said she and her husband contacted Local Land Services – which refused to comment on the matter – to confirm which areas of their land could not be touched and the areas they ­believed had been wrongly classified. The Australian was provided with satellite imaging that corroborated Ms Davis’ claim that there had been no visible change to the land between 1992 and today – meaning category 1 status should apply.

A representative from LLS marked the map to differentiate between natural forest and rotationally harvested blue mallee stands, and submitted it to a map review team on behalf of the couple. The submission was rejected in full.

The couple formed the Landholders’ Right to Farm group in October last year. Since then, 36 members have written to the government, but to no avail.

Ms Davis claimed the mapping had been proven to be incorrect for a large number of landowners in the area. “There’s been no communication, no consultation and certainly no avenues to protest,” she said. “Looking after the environment is what everyone wants. Every single farmer that’s in this group is all about leaving the land in a better place, and that’s why Local Land Services are there to work with the farmers … on doing things in the correct way.”

Annabelle Davis, co-owner and operator of eucalyptus oil supplier G.R. Davis.

Ms Davis said the group had requested a meeting with Environment Minister Penny Sharpe.

“The definition of critically endangered is that the plant is likely to be extinct in the near future. The vegetation is thriving,” she added. “There has been no change of any management other than the management of the landholders (and) their continued focus on biodiversity.

“The No.1 thing people want is their land-use back. If they can’t get their land back, maybe it’s got to be the value of the land.

“The areas we can’t touch, how many hundreds of thousands of dollars come off that per year?”

Ms Davis said the stress was ­affecting the health of land­owners. “One of the landholders has said they can cope with drought, they can cope with floods, they can cope with plague, but what they can’t cope with is a government who continues to ­ignore them and disregard ­everything they’re standing for,” she said.

“How is it that a rural community can be so expendable by the NSW government, can be so forgotten that people’s lives simply don’t count?

“On one hand, they’re saying that agriculture is everything, they’re trying to get people into the regions. (On the other) they’re doing the exact opposite and trying to shut everything down.”

A government spokesman said the minister was “in the process” of organising a meeting with the landowners.

“Any compliance activity in West Wyalong has no relation to the government’s roll out of the draft native vegetation regulatory map,” the spokesman said.

“We acknowledge the concerns of these landowners and will continue to work through any mapping and compliance issues with landowners.”