South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts (1) In this Act,
unless the contrary intention appears—
"Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary" has the same meaning as in the
Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Act 2005 ;
"biological diversity" or "biodiversity" means the variety of life forms
represented by plants, animals and other organisms and micro-organisms, the
genes that they contain, and the ecosystems and ecosystem processes of which
they form a part;
"breach" of this Act means a contravention of, or a failure to comply with, a
provision of this Act and includes a contravention of, or a failure to comply
with, a term of a heritage agreement;
"building" includes a structure that is fixed to land;
"to clear" native vegetation includes to cause or permit the clearance of
native vegetation;
"clearance", in relation to native vegetation, means—
(a) the
killing or destruction of native vegetation;
(b) the
removal of native vegetation;
(c) the
severing of branches, limbs, stems or trunks of native vegetation;
(d) the
burning of native vegetation;
(e) any
other substantial damage to native vegetation,
and includes the draining or flooding of land, or any other act or activity,
that causes the killing or destruction of native vegetation, the severing of
branches, limbs, stems or trunks of native vegetation or any other substantial
damage to native vegetation;
"the Council" means the Native Vegetation Council established by this Act;
"ERD Court" means the Environment, Resources and Development Court;
"the Fund" means the Native Vegetation Fund established by this Act;
"isolated plant"—see subsections (2) and (3);
"land" includes—
(a) land
submerged by water; and
(b) an
interest in land;
"landscape management region" means a landscape management region established
under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 ;
"local council" means a municipal or district council;
"member" means a member of the Council;
"Minister for the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary" means the Minister to whom the
administration of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Act 2005 is committed;
"Murray-Darling Basin" has the same meaning as in the
Murray-Darling Basin Act 1993 ;
"native vegetation" means a plant or plants of a species indigenous to South
Australia including a plant or plants growing in or under waters of the sea
but does not include—
(a) a
plant or part of a plant that is dead unless the plant, or part of the plant,
is of a class declared by regulation to be included in this definition; or
(b) a
plant intentionally sown or planted by a person unless the plant was sown or
planted—
(i)
in compliance with a condition imposed by the Council
under this Act or by the Native Vegetation Authority under the repealed Act,
or with the order of a court under this Act or the repealed Act; or
(ii)
in pursuance of a proposal approved by the Council under
Part 4 Division 2; or
(iia) in
circumstances involving the use of money paid into the Fund for the purpose of
achieving a significant environmental benefit; or
(iii)
in compliance with a condition imposed by a Minister,
statutory authority or prescribed person or body under—
(A) the River Murray Act 2003 ; or
(B) the Water Resources Act 1997 ; or
(C) any other Act prescribed by the
regulations for the purposes of this paragraph;
"owner" of land means—
(a) in
relation to land alienated from the Crown by grant in fee simple—the
holder of the fee simple;
(ab) in
relation to dedicated land within the meaning of the Crown Lands
Act 1929 that has not been granted in fee simple but which is under the
care, control and management of a Minister, local council or other body or
person—the Minister, council or other body or person;
(b) in
relation to land held under Crown lease—the lessee;
(c) in
relation to land held under an agreement to purchase from the Crown—the
person entitled to the benefit of the agreement;
(d) in
relation to any other land—the Minister who is responsible for the care,
control and management of the land or, if no Minister is responsible for the
land, the Minister for Environment and Conservation;
"pastoral land" means land comprised in a lease granted under the
Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989 over Crown land for
the pasturing of stock and other ancillary purposes;
"principles of clearance of native vegetation" means principles set out in
Schedule 1 to which the Council must have regard when determining an
application for consent to clear native vegetation;
"the repealed Act" means the Native Vegetation Management Act 1985
repealed by this Act;
"River Murray Protection Area" means a River Murray Protection Area under the
River Murray Act 2003 ;
"waters of the sea" includes any water that is subject to the ebb and flow of
the tide.
(2) A plant will be
taken to be an isolated plant if—
(a) it
is at least one metre in height; and
(b)
there is no other plant comprising native vegetation that is 200 millimetres
or more in height within 50 metres of it.
(3) Each plant of a
group of two or three plants or of a group of plants that is the subject of a
determination by the Council under subsection (4) will be taken to be an
isolated plant if it would be an isolated plant under subsection (2)
except for its proximity to another plant, or other plants, in the group.
(4) The Council may,
where in its opinion the circumstances of a particular case justify a
determination under this subsection, determine that each plant of a group of
four or more plants will be taken to be an isolated plant.
(5) A determination
under subsection (4) must be agreed to by all the members of the Council
present at the meeting at which it is made.
(6) The distance
between two plants for the purposes of subsection (2) will be taken to be
the distance between those parts of the plants that are above ground level and
are closest to each other.