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NPWS Park Planning Mailbox <npws.parkplanning@environment.nsw.gov.au>
Adoption of the Crookwell Reserves Plan of Management
23/11/2020 10:20 AM
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A drawing of a person Description generated with high confidence
Adoption of the Crookwell Reserves Plan of Management

I am pleased to advise that the Minister for Energy and Environment recently adopted a plan of management for The Crookwell Reserves under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.

The Crookwell Reserves comprise of Thalaba, Gillindich, Burwood Creek and Mount Davies Nature Reserves and Nuggetty State Conservation Area (SCA). They are located in the Southern Tablelands of NSW, approximately 40 kilometres north of Crookwell within the traditional Country of the Wiradjuri, Gundungurra and Ngunnawal peoples.



The reserves protect a range of threatened species including Spotted-tailed quoll, Booroolong frog, powerful owl, scarlet robin, varied sittella, Yass daisy, aromatic peppercress, and the critically endangered White Box – Yellow Box – Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland ecological community. The reserves contain some of the only substantial vegetated areas remaining in the region, which has been extensively cleared for agriculture, and in which much of the remaining vegetation occurs in very small patches or as scattered trees.



The reserves have very low levels of visitation, with limited public access. There is no public road frontage to Mount Davies NR. There a no trails in Burwood Creek Nature Reserve or Thalaba Nature Reserve and access to the trails in Nuggetty SCA are through private property. Cycling is permitted in Gillindich Nature Reserve on signposted management trails.



During public exhibition, 32 submissions were received, of which 30 requested that fossicking be permitted in Nuggetty SCA. Fossicking was an existing use prior to this area’s reservation as an SCA, and has a history of mining and fossicking dating back to the 1800s.



In considering the impacts of fossicking to the reserve, NPWS undertook an environmental impact assessment and found that fossicking, if undertaken in accordance with the Mining Regulation 2016, NPWS Fossicking Policy and NSW Resources Regulator’s Fossicking: A guide to fossicking in NSW, would not pose a significant threat to the values of Nuggetty SCA. In response to submissions supporting fossicking and the outcomes of environmental impact assessment, the management plan now enables fossicking within Nuggety SCA though excludes the creek banks and alluvial flats of Tuena Creek to protect Aboriginal and shared cultural heritage values.



Fossicking will continue to be prohibited in Thalaba, Gillindich, Burwood Creek and Mount Davies Nature Reserves. This activity was not an existing use at the time of their reservation and the introduction of fossicking is not consistent with the management principles for nature reserves under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.



The adopted plan is available at www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-management/parks-plans-of-management.



Yours sincerely



ANDREW growcock
Got this the other day, thought some may be intersested, regards Phil
Manager, Planning Evaluation and Assessment

National Parks and Wildlife Service