Aus farmer hit with huge $225,000 fine for illegal land clearing

The land was illegally cleared in Wallanthery in Central NSW. Picture: Google Maps An Aussie farmer has been fined $225,000 for illegally clearing massive stretches of his own land of native vegetation. Sheldon Jeffrey Dalton has been found guilty of unlawfully clearing almost 950 hectares of land on his property Scotts Craig at Wallanthery in Central NSW between May and October in 2023. The land is the equivalent to around 570 SCGs. MORE: Nathan Cleary’s $5.5m move amid Fowler uncertainty The Malleefowl. Dalton admitted to clearing the land, using fire and machinery, knowing that the property contained native vegetation that was a habitat to the threatened species Malleefowl – a stocky, ground dwelling bird about the same size as a domestic chicken to which it is distantly related. Justice Sarah Pritchard of the NSW Land and Environment Court convicted Dalton of two charges in finding the grain farmer caused “actual environmental harm”. Dalton did express remorse and said the charge weighed heavily upon him and his wife. He said he had never previously broken environmental laws in his 40 years as a farmer. Dalton told the court he had made efforts to regenerate the affected areas ...