Neighbourhood Disputes About Plants Act 2017 (Tas)

Neighbourhood Disputes About Plants Act 2017

An Act to provide for certain rights and responsibilities, and the resolution of disputes, related to plants, and for related purposes [Royal Assent 19 September 2017]

Be it enacted by Her Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

PART 1 - Preliminary

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Neighbourhood Disputes About Plants Act 2017 .

2. Commencement The provisions of this Act commence on a day or days to be proclaimed.

3. Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – affected land means an area of land that is, under section 7 , affected by a plant situated in whole or in part on another area of land; affected landholder means a landholder of land that is affected land; Appeal Tribunal means the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal; applicant means a person who makes an application; application means an application under section 23(1) ; cabling means the insertion of cables or wire into a plant for the purpose of ensuring the stability of the plant; Crown land means land that is vested in the Crown and includes land granted in fee simple which has revested in the Crown by way of purchase or otherwise; excluded land means land specified in section 9 ; Forestry corporation means the Forestry corporation continued by section 6 of the Forest Management Act 2013 ; government body means – (a) a person who holds an office established under an Act and performs functions, under an Act, that relate to the regulation of plants; or (b) a State authority that performs functions, under an Act, that relate to, include or require the regulation of plants; or (c) a council; landholder, in relation to land, means – (a) an owner of the land; and (b) an occupier of the land; occupier, in relation to land, means a person who is entitled to the immediate possession and occupation of the land; owner, in relation to land, means – (a) every person who jointly or severally, whether at law or in equity, is entitled to the land for any estate in freehold in possession; or (b) if the land is common property within the meaning of the Strata Titles Act 1998 – the body corporate formed under that Act in relation to the land; or (c) if the land is held under a tenancy for life – the person who is the life tenant; or (d) if the land is held under a lease for a term of not less than 99 years or for a term of not less than a period that is prescribed – the person who is the lessee of the land; or (e) if the land is Crown land and is not land subject to a lease (other than a lease under the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 ) or a relevant licence – the Minister, authority or other person responsible for managing the land; or (f) if the land is Crown land and is subject to a lease (other than a lease under the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 ) or a relevant licence – the holder of the lease or licence; or (g) any other person who holds a prescribed interest in the land; party, in relation to an application, means – (a) the applicant; and (b) the owner of the land on which is situated the plant to which the application relates; and (c) any other person who is joined under section 29 as a party to the application; person includes the Crown; plant – see section 4 ; relevant licence means a licence, in relation to land, that gives to the holder of the licence – (a) an exclusive right to occupy the land; or (b) responsibilities for the management of vegetation on the land; State authority means a body or authority, whether incorporated or not, that – (a) is established or constituted under a written law or under the royal prerogative; and (b) is a body or authority which, or of which the governing authority, wholly or partly comprises a person or persons appointed by the Governor, a Minister or another State authority; work, in relation to a plant, includes – (a) severing and removing any part of the plant, including its branches or roots; and (b) netting the plant; and (c) attaching or removing cabling to a plant or land; and (d) destroying the plant in any way (including by poisoning, uprooting, ringbarking or cutting down the plant) and removing the plant and every part of the plant. (2) For the purposes of this Act, but subject to section 8 , a person who is an owner of land by virtue of paragraph (c) , (d) , (f) or (g) of the definition of owner in subsection (1) is only to be taken to be an owner of so much of that land as is land to which any of those paragraphs applies and is not to be taken to be an owner of so much of the area of land as is not land to which any of those paragraphs applies.