A decision not to assess plans to bulldoze an area of tropical savanna 10 times the size of Sydney's city centre for industrial agriculture has landed federal Environment Minister Murray Watt in court.
In February Senator Watt decided against assessing Top End Pastoral company's plans to bulldoze 2722 hectares of savanna at Claravale Station and Farm near the Daly River, north of Katherine in the Northern Territory.
Environment Centre NT, with its lawyers at Environmental Justice Australia, announced on Thursday it would challenge the decision in the Federal Court, seeking a judicial review of the minister's decision.
They argue the minister should have rejected the referral because it is only one stage of a three-stage clearing project which could see almost 6000 hectares of savanna cleared for crops.
