Port Stephens Council is seeking to bolster its non-rate revenue through the sale of biobank credits at Karuah.
The state government's Biodiversity Conservation Trust recently invited the council to quote on the sale of credits it holds at Tarean Road.
Council staff, who have recommended the sale of three lots of credits, estimated the sale would deliver almost $30,000 to the council's coffers.
It is further recommended that the proceeds of the sale be directed towards the council's commercial property reserve.
The Biodiversity Conservation Trust credit tender process operates similar to a reverse auction where applicants offer a price to sell their credits the trust.
The process allows the trust to acquire the required credits, to allow infrastructure and developer obligations to be satisfied.
Port Stephens mayor Ryan Palmer said the council had previously sold biobank credits for the community's benefit.
"We've had sites where we have either owned or bought credits and then at the appropriate time when people have needed them we have sold them off," he said.
"As a council we need non-rate revenue and this is a way of being able to supplement the rates we charge and provide more for the community."
The council holds a relatively large number of biobank credits given the local government area's natural resources.
"We have biobanked a site near Horizons Golf Course at Salamander Bay and the one at Karuah," Mr Palmer said.
"The great thing is we can protect those in perpetuity but also help people do things on other sites."
The state government has announced reforms to its biodiversity conservation laws, including the offsets scheme, in response to the recent Henry review.
The 2023 review found existing state laws were failing to preserve biodiversity.
The government has adopted 49 of the review's 58 recommendations.
Amendments to the Biodiversity Conservation Act include requiring the biodiversity scheme to transition to overall 'net positive' outcomes. Upfront consideration of biodiversity will be strengthened in planning and development processes.
Improvements to the scheme include the introduction of a new statutory standard that requires proponents to demonstrate how they have genuinely avoided and minimised the impacts to biodiversity.
A new public register regarding 'avoid' and 'minimise' measures for approved developments will also be introduced.
"It's clear we need new approaches and that additional effort must be directed into proactive landscape-scale biodiversity protection, restoration and management," environment minister Penny Sharpe said.
"We must go beyond the aim of halting loss to one of achieving overall ecosystem gains."
"The response sets out our immediate priorities and directions, but this is the start of concerted action, reform and investment."
