Updates to the clearing codes

You can carry out low risk clearing activities, without needing to apply for development approval, under an accepted development vegetation clearing code. The codes take effect when they are prescribed under a Vegetation Management Regulation.

Updated codes

As part of the sunset review of the Vegetation Management Regulation, we have updated most of the codes with some minor changes to ensure they are up to date and reflect the latest scientific information provided by the Queensland Herbarium. We also provided clarity where appropriate. The following codes have been updated and took effect on the same day the new regulation commenced, 22 November 2023:

Managing encroachment
Clearing for an extractive industry
Managing fodder harvesting
Clearing to improve agricultural efficiency
Managing regulated regrowth vegetation
Necessary environmental clearing
Clearing for infrastructure
Managing weeds.

Existing notifications under the above codes will remain valid, and you don't need to re-notify the department. However, under most codes, any clearing from 22 November 2023 must be undertaken in accordance with the new code.

If you notified to clear under the previous Managing Fodder Harvesting ADVCC before 22 November 2023, your notification allows you to clear in accordance with that code.

Changes to the codes

We have made the following improvements to the codes:

corrected the department’s name, updated weblinks and formatting
removed unnecessary detail regarding landholder consent
referred to the new vegetation management regional ecosystem description database (VM REDD) where appropriate
clarified that clearing in accordance with the codes is accepted development under the planning framework
clarified where clearing lifetime limits apply per lot (in the Clearing for extractive industry and Clearing to improve agricultural efficiency codes, and clearing for agriculture under the Managing regulated regrowth vegetation code)
clarified key terms by correcting, deleting or including new definitions
expanded the definition of 'weeds' to reflect authoritative advice on plants, algae, fungi and lichens in Queensland from the Census of the Queensland Flora and Fungi
corrected references to regional ecosystems resulting from scientific information provided by the Queensland Herbarium in the Managing regulated regrowth vegetation, Managing encroachment and Managing fodder harvesting codes.

Specific changes have also been made to the following codes.

Managing fodder harvesting

A correction has been made to table A1-2 in Appendix 1 to correct the class of regional ecosystem 6.5.2. This table now correctly identifies the class of regional ecosystem 6.5.2 as ‘of concern’ instead of ‘least concern’. This means that fodder harvesting within regional ecosystem 6.5.2 will need to meet higher retention thresholds for 'of concern' regional ecosystems. The retention thresholds are:

for a least concern regional ecosystem, at least 1 fodder tree must be retained for every fodder tree harvested
for an of concern regional ecosystem, a least 2 fodder trees must be retained for every fodder tree harvested.

If your clearing for fodder harvesting cannot meet the requirements of the code, you may need to apply for a development approval.

Managing encroachment

This code now allows responsible management of the encroachment of native woody vegetation into woody grassland clearing in more regional ecosystems. These changes reflect advice from the Queensland Herbarium to include wooded grassland ecosystems that would be at little risk of environmental degradation by managing encroachment. The full list of regional ecosystems can be found in section 4 of the code.

Those regional ecosystems being added to the code include:

1.9.1
1.11.13
1.12.5
2.3.1
2.3.32
2.3.44
2.3.69
2.4.1
3.3.62
3.5.29
3.9.8
3.11.19
3.12.30
4.9.6
6.3.14
8.3.14
9.3.25
9.3.26
9.3.27
9.8.13
10.3.31
10.4.8
11.8.10
11.9.12
11.11.17

As well as the addition of regional ecosystems, we have also removed the following 3 ecosystems from the code, based on scientific advice:

3.3.60
3.3.61
10.3.7

You may still be able to clear under these ecosystems for another purpose under a different code, or by applying for a development approval.

Managing regulated regrowth

We have made changes to the regional ecosystems where regulated regrowth vegetation can be managed under a code and to ensure the listed structure categories are correct. We have also removed the following 6 ecosystems from the code:

2.3.34
2.5.16
4.5.8
4.9.6 (now included under Managing encroachment)
6.6.2
6.7.17 (now included under Managing encroachment)

The regional ecosystem tables in Appendix 2 of the code have been corrected to ensure structure categories of listed regional ecosystems are accurately reflected.

The following regional ecosystems are now shown as ‘sparse’ instead of ‘very sparse’:

4.3.9
4.5.2
4.9.16
6.3.24
6.5.15
6.5.19
9.12.1
10.3.6
10.5.5
10.5.9
10.5.12
11.8.4

The following regional ecosystems are now shown as ‘very sparse’ instead of ‘sparse’:

2.7.4
5.6.2
11.3.7
11.3.32

You may still be able to clear under these removed ecosystems for another purpose under a different code.

A full list of regional ecosystems can be found in Appendix 2 of the Managing regulated regrowth code.

Clearing for infrastructure

The changes we have made to this code clarify notification and clearing limits, ensuring self-assessable clearing under the code is only for low-risk clearing activities.

The changes clarify that:

only 1 notification can be lodged per item of infrastructure
clearing on dedicated roads is subject to clearing requirements and limitations.

If your clearing for infrastructure work cannot meet the requirements of the code, you may need to apply for a development approval.

Last updated: 22 November 2023
Last reviewed: 22 November 2023