Restricted land protections

Restricted land protects certain areas from being included in the surface of a mining claim or mining lease without the landholder's consent. This means the miner isn't allowed to enter that land, and the land is protected from disturbance.

You are not obliged to give this consent, but if you do, you cannot later withdraw it.

• For mining leases, consent to these areas being included can be given at any time.
• For mining claims, consent must be given before the objection period for the claim ends.

The protection offered by restricted land applies to land even if the relevant building or improvement is not located within the boundaries of the mining claim or mining lease.

Prescribed distances

What is considered to be restricted land is set at the point in time when the application for the mining claim or mining lease is lodged. This means it applies only to buildings and infrastructure in existence at the time the application was lodged.

For mining claims and mining leases restricted land is the area within 200 metres of:

• a permanent building used for
  • residences
  • businesses
  • childcare centres
  • hospitals
  • libraries
  • places of worship
  • community, sporting or recreational purposes
• an area used for
  • schools
  • aquaculture, intensive animal feedlotting, pig keeping or poultry farming (as provided under the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019).

Restricted land is also the area within 50 metres of:

• artesian wells
• bores
• dams
• water storage facilities
• principal stockyards
• cemeteries or burial places.

You can read more information on restricted land and on ways to resolve any disputes with the miner in A guide to landholder compensation for mining claims and mining leases (PDF, 2MB).