At the August policy committee meeting of Bathurst Regional Council, councillor Jess Jennings requested information on how easy the process is for farmers to apply for a permit. 

“I just wanted to make sure that the application process to the extent that involved council was as efficient as it could possibly be,” he said. 

The process is coordinated by Local Land Services (LLS), with farmers needed to submit applications for permits to the agency.

Council will be contacted as required and will usually respond in a couple of days. 

If the response from council is unfavourable, it may take a little longer for a response to be provided back to LLS. 

“Essentially, you have to apply to LLS, but council does have to sign off on it,” Cr Jennings said.

“So to the extent that council plays a part, I wanted to be confident that our council is not holding up the process in any way, shape or form.

“From what I was told, it sounds like we do a pretty good job of having our end of it turned around within a day to two days maximum.”

With the drought conditions as they are, Cr Jennings said he believes there has been an increasing need for farmers to resort to grazing on road corridors. 

“The more we don’t get any growth, no rain and cold weather, the more people are forced out of their own paddocks and looking for every little bit of feed they can get,” he said.

“There’s nothing worse than facing a mountain of red tape when you really want to do something pretty simple, straight forward, just get your stock onto some grass.”

READ ALSO: Fight for feed will only intensify as the drought rolls on

READ ALSO: Sheep fire sale as farmers battle drought

Cr Jennings said there were a number of places around Bathurst that farmers could utilise.

To find out more information about the kinds of permits available, visit www.lls.nsw.gov.au/livestock/stock-permits.

Stock movement permits can be obtained by calling 1300 795 299.