The current policy is outdated and has been updated to comply with current legislation. The current policy could not be updated with track changes as the policy was rewritten. The current policy can be found here.
The draft Local Biodiversity Offsets Policy (BOP) was updated to:
- align with current biodiversity conservation legislation
- add structural emphasis to the strict application of the mitigation hierarchy (avoid > minimise >restore > offset) as a mandatory prerequisite to be demonstrated to ensure biodiversity offsets are used as a last resort
- provide guidance on Council’s requirements for local biodiversity offsets for development that impacts on biodiversity values that are not covered by the NSW or Commonwealth biodiversity offsets schemes.
File download:
Local Biodiversity Offsets Policy DV2.0(PDF, 327KB)
This draft policy was presented to the Environment and Sustainability Advisory Committee at its Committee meeting held 30 June 2026. Comments raised at the meeting and in subsequent correspondence has been considered in the finalisation of this draft.
Submissions should be made in writing to the General Manager, Clarence Valley Council, Locked Bag 23, Grafton NSW 2460, clearly marked “Local Biodiversity Offsets Policy”, or submitted online by 4:00 pm on 7 October 2026 via the ‘Make a submission’ button below.
Make a submission