It's more to do with the nature than the size of the land (safety), and what you need to shoot on it.
If there are no deer you might get the land cleared for e.g. 308, but you wont get 308 on your ticket on the back of it. On the other hand they may take the view that if there are no deer the land has no need of anything bigger than 223 for foxes, even though it is capable of being shot with something bigger.
They could also say, yes its stuffed with deer, but the land is not safe to shoot with a centrefire at all. In which case the only person who could shoot it is one with a fully open ticket.
My land was miles from anywhere but I still had to actively make the case for clearance . Some of mine is heavily forested and I was told that had it all been forested then no clearance would have been forthcoming. In the end it all went OK, but I had to make sure I stayed reasonable and co-operative all the way through, and I did my homework thoroughly and meticulously with photos of deer damage, safe shooting zones, maps, access routes etc. I got the impression that I was being assessed as much as the land.
They take this stuff very seriously, and so must you - get it wrong first time and there is no easy route to appeal.