[Elizabeth Fenning]

I would like to inquire whether your Council provides rate discounts to properties that have been granted a conservation agreement. This is the first instance I’ve encountered where a property is eligible for a rate discount due to a conservation agreement.
According to my research in the Rates and Revenue Manual, Section 555(1)(b1) of the Local Government Act states that land subject to a conservation agreement under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 is exempt from all rates. Additionally, Section 555(3) allows for rates to be made and levied proportionately on the part of a parcel not subject to the conservation agreement. For example, if 50% of a parcel is covered by a conservation agreement, then 50% of the rates calculated on the whole parcel would be subject to levying, regardless of whether this amount is less than the minimum or base rate.
To determine the applicable percentage, my understanding is that the area of the land covered by the conservation agreement needs to be identified in the voluntary conservation agreement, and this percentage should be used to calculate the deduction from the rates levied.
I’m also keen to understand the steps involved in the process surrounding conservation agreements. Specifically:
• Does the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service send a letter to the Council and the Valuer with details of the voluntary conservation agreement to determine the land valuation under Section 14D of the Valuation of Land Act?
• Is the Council responsible for calculating the percentage by referring to the voluntary conservation agreement?
• How do we verify that the property continues to qualify for the allowance under the conservation agreement? Should we expect periodic confirmation from NSW National Parks, or rely on the Valuer’s land records?
Your insights on this process would be greatly appreciated.

[Ian Clayton]

Hi Elizabeth,

My understanding is that conservation agreements are no longer under the NP&W Act, but are now under the Biodiversity Conservation Act. Cl 18(1)(c) of the Biodiversity Conservation (Savings and Transitional) Regulation extends legislative references to the NP&W Act to read as the Biodiversity Conservation Act.

We have recently received letters from the Biodiversity Conservation Trust when a new agreement’s been made. These give details of the area covered by the agreement, but little else. I’ve taken the position that the owner needs to provide a copy of the agreement before I process an exemption. The old agreements under the NP&W Act were in perpetuity, but the new agreements don’t have to be, and I don’t know of any other way to be sure if or when it ends.

The exemption is calculated on an area percentage basis as you have described.

Cheers
Ian

[Elizabeth Fenning]

Thank you, Ian, for providing this valuable information regarding Conservation Agreements.
As you mentioned in your previous response, the older agreements under the NP&W Act were in perpetuity, whereas the newer agreements may not necessarily follow this pattern. Given this difference, I agree that it is prudent to verify the terms of each agreement to determine its duration and ensure that the exemption is applied appropriately. But how do we know or measure this under the new agreements. Therefore, I was thinking that perhaps the NSW Rating Professionals executives could provide further guidance to ensure we are correctly following the legislative requirements and steps surrounding these new conservation agreements.
I would greatly appreciate any insights or additional resources to confirm that we are adhering to best practices with these newer agreements or perhaps have this topic raised at the next conference.

[Darryl Telfer]

Having just received notification of a conservation agreement entered under Part 5.20 of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, have reviewed the above posts (thanks to all those who have contributed) and the legislation.

I can see from the legislation that the agreements can be terminated under s5.10 “by consent of the Minister and all the owners” or “by the Minister, without the consent of the owners”.

I read this as meaning that the agreements are not time limited from the outset.

I may have missed something here so is anyone would like to point in the right direction, or if someone has actually viewed an agreement with an end date, please let me know.

[Pete Timmins]

Hi Darryl,

We recently received a new conservation agreement and after some back and forth from the team at the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust we have received an updated letter showing in part the following:

Subject: Request for Rate Relief

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to inform you of the signed ‘CA0999 – 77 Main Rd, Town Centre’ conservation agreement, located within your Local Government Area that came into effect on 13/08/2024 and is ‘In Perpetuity’. The conservation agreement covers 19 hectares of the property. The agreement relates to part of the land described as:……

Before we received this updated letter we were advised “We have received some further information from our Agreements and Technical Services Team advising that unfortunately the length of the agreement is currently not included in the council letters, but we are looking to add/include this for future letters to council. This does mean, however, that in the meantime, the only way to confirm the duration of the agreement is by doing a full title search or alternatively request the page from the landholder’s agreement that stipulates the term/length.”

We then paid for a full title search and were then advised “From what I can see, this does not give any indication as to the length either… so have passed your enquiry on to our South East Regional team as they will know more information than what I do. I have requested they re-issue the council letter to you and include the agreement duration.”

I hope this helps.

Regards
Pete

[Darryl Telfer]

Thanks Pete

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