Anger builds over forestry lease bungle

The bungle has forced the Department of Natural Resources and Mines to reissue letters to forestry lease holders, telling them that a new agreement would be redrafted due to complaints raised by a significant number of lease- holders.

Graziers with forestry leases had been given until the end of September to sign off on the new terms and conditions, many of which landholders claim are unworkable.

Many of the complaints relate to fire, weed and pest control as well as issues around public access and notification for entry.

AgForce policy general manager Lauren Hewitt said the terms and conditions had initially been changed to make the leases more streamlined.

"Forestry leases are really ad hoc in terms of the terms and conditions that they were previously operating under," Ms Hewitt (pictured) said.

"In the transition to convert them into rolling leases the Department who administer them, which is the Department of Parks and Wildlife, tried to rewrite the terms and conditions and make them more consistent."

Ms Hewitt said the Department offered the new rolling leases to more than 800 forestry lessees and asked them to sign off on the new terms and conditions.

"Lots of people raised issues with them," she said.

"They weren't particularly user friendly.

"We had a group in central Queensland who approached us and said 'look we can't deal with these and we won't sign off on them' so we have been advocating on behalf of that group since then.

"We also have another 50 members that have the same forestry leases and we have been getting feedback from them on how to improve the agreement."

Ms Hewitt said the department had agreed that the terms and conditions could be improved and were now working to fix the problem.

"At the moment we are sitting at the negotiating table and I think we are on the third draft," she said.

"We are going through it clause by clause.

"I'm sure we won't please everyone but it's been a really good discussion and the fact that lessees have raised the issues and parks are listening and responding with new drafting is good."