76Declaration of protected private land

1. The owner of any private land or the lessee of any Crown land may at any time apply to the Minister for his or her land or any part thereof to be declared to be protected private land under and subject to the terms of any agreement entered into between the owner or lessee and the Minister.

2. The Minister, if satisfied that the land possesses such qualities of natural, scientific, scenic, historic, cultural, archaeological, geological, or other interest that its protection is desirable in the public interest, or that rare species of indigenous flora or fauna are on the land, and the preservation of such flora and fauna is in the public interest, and that the land is sufficiently fenced or is otherwise protected from damage by stock, may, by notice in the Gazette, declare the land to be protected private land for nature, scenic, historic, or scientific purposes, having regard to the provisions of sections 18 to 21 relating to the classification of historic, scenic, nature, and scientific reserves, and may in like manner revoke any such declaration.

3. While that declaration remains in force, sections 93 to 105 shall, as far as they are applicable, and with the necessary modifications, apply to the protected private land in all respects as if it were a nature, scenic, historic, or scientific reserve, as the case may be, notwithstanding that the land comprised therein or, as the case may be, the interest of the lessee or licensee may be sold or otherwise disposed of:

   provided that in their application to any protected private land sections 93 to 105 shall be read subject to any agreement between the owner or lessee of the land and the Minister reserving to the owner or lessee or his or her successors in title the right to do any act or thing forbidden by this Act.

4. Unless the agreement between the Minister and the owner or lessee or licensee of the land specifically provides otherwise, the agreement shall, when the notice under subsection (2) has been recorded against the title, be binding on the successors in title of that owner or lessee.

5. Where an agreement under this section applies to land comprising part of the land in a record or instrument of title, the Registrar-General of Land may require the deposit of a plan under section 224 of the Land Transfer Act 2017.

6. On the application of the Commissioner, the Registrar-General of Land must note on the register the declaration that the land is protected private land.

7. The Minister may, with the consent of the owner or lessee, as the case may be, from time to time take such steps as he or she thinks necessary or desirable for the management and preservation of any protected private land, and cause such steps to be taken as in the Minister's opinion are necessary to make it readily accessible, under proper conditions, to the public.