Baw Baw Shire Council commenced operation of its NVOS in December 2012 to address a lack of third-party offsetting opportunities for developers seeking offsets in Baw Baw and to streamline the process for offset acquisition for permit holders (link to NVOS fact sheet).
Vegetation credits derived from two established offset sites located at Trafalgar and Lardner Transfer Stations have been successfully used to supply offset credits to permit holders since commencement of the Scheme.
On the 20 December 2013, the Victorian Government revised the native vegetation removal provisions, incorporating the permitted clearing of native vegetation – Biodiversity assessment guidelines (the Guidelines) into the Planning Scheme.
The revised Guidelines have introduced a new vegetation currency (Biodiversity Equivalence Units) to facilitate the trade of offsets
In September 2014, Council approved commencement of trading by Council’s NVOS in the new vegetation currency (Biodiversity Equivalence Units) for an initial period of six months.
Council’s NVOS has continued to trade in native vegetation credits identified under the old native vegetation removal provisions (Victoria’s Native Vegetation Management – A Framework for Action 2002) for permits issued prior to incorporation of the new Guidelines in December 2013.