NSW Crown Land status check changes

[mbasko]

A heads up for those that use Crown Lands to ascertain the status of lots they are interested in accessing.
It seems NSW bureaucracy is at it's finest once again. Turning the easy & helpful into a mountain of red tape for those wanting to do the right thing.

In the past to enquire on NSW Crown Land parcel status you'd either phone or email & they would provide basic information (at no cost) about the lot i.e. whether it's unmanaged, managed by a land manager or trust (TSR, Common, Reserve etc.) or under tenure/lease/permit.
You still in a lot of cases had some work to do to establish if you could legally access i.e. contacting land managers/trusts, contacting lease or permit holders (Crown Lands did initiate this as they don't give out tenure details - not sure if they'll still do this?).

This week I sent a small list of Crown Land lots that I'm interested in. They sent me back a form that needs to be filled out for each lot & a fee schedule. They are processing my forms now & will let me know what, if any, fees will be required before they send back any information.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/doc/member-docs/4485/1594942607_crown-land-status-search-aplication.pdf
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/doc/member-docs/4485/1594942632_crown-land-status-search-fee-schedule.pdf
When I received the forms I thought they had mistaken my enquiry as status searches for conveyancing or some other commercial/legal purpose. I replied back that I'm after basic information for recreational activities & here is their reply:

Our procedures have changed since your last contact with us and that all requests for status searches must be submitted on the approved application form. Once the application form is received, a determination of fees, if any, will be communicated to you prior to the search request being undertaken.

:N:

 

[CreviceSucker]

let us know if they forget to respond to your application , it sounds like a "dont call us we will call you...maybe"

 

[mbasko]

No word back today :/

I found out today that they currently have a draft 10yr Strategic Plan for Crown Land open for public comment. One of the initiatives of the draft is "making more of our information available and transparent" which is pretty funny after they changed to a red tape type system. :lol:
https://www.nsw.gov.au/have-your-say/state-strategic-plan-for-crown-land
https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/lands/public/on-exhibition/draft-state-strategic-plan-for-crown-land
If you want to submit it's pretty straight forward: https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/lan...ate-strategic-plan-for-crown-land-online-form

I did & put in this comment:

This is very important - "Make more of our information available and transparent"!!
Currently it is very hard to get basic information on Crown Land to decipher if specific land parcels are freely accessible for recreational activities; require permission/s from a Land Manager or Trust; or requires permission from a tenure/lease/permit holder.
Crown Lands are not easily identifiable as being unmanaged , managed by a land manager or trust or under tenure. Getting this information has recently been made harder (more red tape) by requiring an approved application for status to be sent which may have fees attached if status information is provided.
There should be a free, publicly available system for recreational users of Crown Land to help facilitate community use of available lands.

 

[mbasko]

Update
Well Crown Lands will still provide information on status.
For $112 per lot of land you require the information.
I.e. if you want info on 4 separate lots that'll be $448 thanks.
No explanation on what level of detail this "information" contains & definitely no guarantee of access for the cost.
They don't charge extra if the lots are contiguous (share a common border) god bless their cotton socks.
] :N: oop:

 

[Goldpin Prospecting]

Typical government only caring about $. What a shame they have to be like this in our 'fine' country :zzz:

 

[StoneTheCrows]

Sad news mbasko
soon we will have to pay to view minview I guess

Thanks for all the research and details you provide on this subject :Y:

 

[mbasko]

Thanks STC.
I've asked a few questions about the Government Information (Public Access) Act & Regs.
Basically under GIPA, if information is in the public interest, Government agencies are authorised & encouraged to release as much information as possible free of charge!

This type of information is definitely in the public interest. It enables the public to remain compliant to the NSW Mining Act + Regs, NSW Resource Regulators Fossicking Guidelines & NSW Crown Land access + usage rules. Without it we're just guessing.

 

[StoneTheCrows]

Should we start lobbying our local pollies to try to change this stupid fee they have
I will speak to my local MP, however everytime I have he has not really been to enthused.
Maybe be cause I am so far away from the prospecting locations.
This really isn't about that though , more about any information i guess.

 

[mbasko]

NSW Crown Lands haven't given me a response but I've asked them to clarify if the application process & fee is only for fossickers/prospectors or for all recreational users.
On the surface it does appear that anyone wanting information on land for any recreational purpose will be asked to go through this process & if that's the case it's a lot more far reaching than areas with fossicking/prospecting locations.
We can't be the only recreational pursuit that needs to find out about crown land access?

As a start if anyone is having issues getting information from NSW Crown Lands lodge a complaint here: https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/policies/about-our-complaints-handling-process

 

[mbasko]

I've received word back from the Complaints people. My complaint has been lodged & assigned to one of their complaints officers who replied to me directly.
Sounds like they are taking it seriously & have set a deadline to get back to me before 20/08/20.
Given the current survey they are doing it's going to be interesting how this unfolds now.

 

[mbasko]

Update:
Crown Lands got back to me with a decision a few days before the deadline they set so a great start there. :Y:
They provided the information I asked for (free of charge) & apologised for what they said was an internal misunderstanding of a new policy recently put in place which was for full land title searches not for the basic info that we require.

NAPFA are also working with Crown Lands to ensure we can get this information freely & Crown Lands are on board with it. Their aim is to have an online system for recreational users to be able to quickly & easily get basic status information on Crown Lands with recreational use/potential use. Unfortunately this is a long term project & will take some time to be able to collate all the info to an online format. Short term they will continue to work with NAPFA etc. to put in place a straightforward process of requesting the information so as there is no further misunderstanding of the type of search required & we don't get confused again with those wanting full land searches done.

Full marks to Crown Lands. Once they looked at it properly & understood what we are after + why they appear more than happy to assist us. It's also good to see that longer term we should have something that we can use online to "self serve" ourselves on Crown Land status. There is talk of even trying to list allowable activities for individual lots so that would be terrific. Let's hope they move forward with it.

 

[StoneTheCrows]

Thanks mbasko

 

[Troutman]

Well done for following this through with them, so happy they have sorted it out in such a positive way. Some good news. :Y:

I was surprised when I saw your initial start to this thread as I recently contacted Crown Lands myself and had a completely pleasant experience. Firstly spoke to a woman in Sydney head office who didn't have my answers so she took my details and promised I'd be contacted by someone from the relevant regional office. That call came promptly the next morning and I spoke to a guy at the regional office who couldn't have been more helpful with the info I needed including the names and phone numbers of the office bearers of "Trust Committee" for the Common area I was researching. We then got into talking about detecting and prospecting and what detectors to get with his teenage kids. Seeing your initial experience so soon after mine I was very concerned that the red tape brigade had invaded and our right to public information had been removed.

 

[mbasko]

In the past I'd always been able to get info fairly easily & found Crown Lands good to deal with so it took me by surprise too Troutman.
Thankfully it's now sorted & hopefully no more dramas + good signs of better to come. :Y: