The Land Tenure Pathway for Irrigated Agriculture provides an opportunity for the private sector to apply to develop irrigated agricultural projects on Crown land (including portions of an existing Pastoral Lease, unallocated Crown land or unmanaged reserves) in locations where the State is not taking a lead role.
Securing higher land tenure, such as long term leasehold or freehold, is a critical part of achieving irrigated agricultural development which in turn will support more sustainable economic development across the State's Rangelands.
A policy framework has been developed in the scope of what is currently possible under the Land Administration Act 1997 and the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth).
The project has defined a specific land tenure pathway for irrigated agriculture, using policy principles as a foundation, which were approved by the State Government in August 2015.
Changing tenure is complex and takes time. The Land Tenure Pathway for Irrigated Agriculture makes the process clearer and consists of four stages:
The key principles include:
- Proposals are driven by the proponent, not the State
- Proponents are required to negotiate their own Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUA). Guidelines and a template will be provided by the State, which will be a party to the ILUA
- Proponents are responsible for all costs including surveying, native title compensation, negotiations, and meetings
- Proponents are responsible for obtaining all approvals
- Every application will require State Government approval
- Applications will be accepted for proposals of up to 10 000 hectares
For further information on the project, visit www.pathwayforirrigatedagriculture.lands.wa.gov.au