Crown land leases: Buyers’ market in NSW Western Division

NSW family and corporate farmers have been granted the right to convert their Crown land leases to freehold, across almost 32 million hectares of the state’s Western Division.

NSW family and corporate farmers have been granted the right to convert their Crown land leases to freehold, across almost 32 million hectares of the state’s Western Division.

The NSW Government is offering any leaseholder, whose land has or could be cultivated, the right to own it outright for 3 per cent of its unimproved capital value.

Western Lands Advisory Council chairman Geoff Wise said granting leaseholders freehold title was an attempt to boost both urban and agricultural development, especially along the western rivers — the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Darling and Barwon.

Mr Wise said the perpetual leases, which cover 42 per cent of NSW, were originally granted to ensure the Government could maintain ownership and control of “fragile” land.

“But it’s been decided that in areas that have been cultivated or have soils that could be cultivated, we no longer need Big Brother looking over our shoulders,” Mr Wise said.

He said it was likely cotton irrigators and others along the western rivers would look to converting their leases to freehold in a bid to “win over” investors, who might be reluctant to invest in leased land.

“Western land leases that are mainly used for primary production — farming or grazing — will be able to convert to freehold for 3 per cent of their unimproved value,” Mr Wise said.

Some of the nation’s biggest cotton growers are set to take advantage of the scheme, which has been pushed by local Nationals MP Kevin Humphries since 2015.

Mr Humphries said the new rules “allowed for greater flexibility in land management and encourage economic growth in the region”.

“The new provisions offer a new opportunity for graziers to purchase their existing lease and include a streamlined process for the conversion of leasehold land to freehold,” he said. “This provides a fairer, more consistent approach to the conversions of Crown land tenures to freehold.”

Leaseholders will be able to begin converting their properties to freehold over the next two to three months, following a four-year consultation process that led to the passage of the Crowns Lands Management Act 2016 and the finalisation of regulations late last year.

Under the new rules, leased land that falls within the top four of the state’s eight land and soil capability classifications can be converted to freehold, while those with class five and six will have to gain government approval. Land in classes seven and eight will remain with the Crown.

Class 1 represents land capable of sustaining most land uses including those that have a high impact on the soil (including regular cultivation), while class 8 represents land that can only sustain very low impact land uses such as nature conservation.