Legal advice received on clearing of vegetation at Wallum

Published on 08 March 2024

Byron Shire Council has received legal advice regarding allegations of unauthorised slashing of native vegetation by the owner of 15 Torakina Road, Brunswick Heads, known as Wallum.

Given the ongoing public interest in matters regarding Wallum Council is making this brief statement about the advice.

The advice concluded that the slashing:

• Was not a breach of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
• Was unlikely to constitute an offence under the Local Land Services Act 2014 (LLS Act) or the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act).

Council is not the responsible public authority to regulate compliance under the LLS Act or BC Act.

The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is the regulatory agency for these Acts and has been advised of the above.

…ends