New South Wales Consolidated Acts

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT ACT 1979 - SECT 10.9

10.9 Proof of ownership of land

(cf previous s 151)

(1) In any legal proceedings under this Act, in addition to any other method of proof available--

(a) evidence that the person proceeded against is rated in respect of any land to any rate under the Local Government Act 1993 , otherwise than as a rate paying lessee, is, until the contrary is proved, evidence that the person is the owner of the land, or

(b) a certificate furnished by the Registrar-General under subsection (2) with respect to any land is, until the contrary is proved, evidence that the person described in the certificate as the proprietor or owner of the land was the owner of that land at the time or during the period specified in the certificate pursuant to subsection (3)(b)(i) or (ii).

(2) If--

(a) written application with respect to any land is made to the Registrar-General under this subsection by a consent authority, and

(b) the Registrar-General has been paid the prescribed fee,

the Registrar-General is to furnish to the consent authority a certificate setting out such of the particulars specified in subsection (3) as are recorded in the Register kept under the Real Property Act 1900 or in the General Register of Deeds maintained under Division 1 of Part 23 of the Conveyancing Act 1919 and as the Registrar-General is able to ascertain from the information about the land furnished in the application.

(3) The particulars are--

(a) the situation and a description of the land, and

(b) in the case of--

(i) land subject to the provisions of the Real Property Act 1900 --the names and addresses of the person registered under that Act as the proprietor of the land at the time or during the period in respect of which the application is made and the date of registration of the instruments under which they became so registered, or

(ii) land not subject to those provisions--the names and addresses of the owner of the land at the time or during the period in respect of which the application is made and the dates, and dates of registration under Division 1 of Part 23 of the Conveyancing Act 1919 , of the instruments kept in the General Register of Deeds maintained under that Division under which the owner became the owner of the land.

(4) Judicial notice is to be taken for the purposes of this Act of the signature of the Registrar-General and of a Deputy Registrar-General.

(5) In subsection (2)(b), the reference to the prescribed fee is, in relation to an application made under that paragraph--

(a) in the case of land subject to the provisions of the Real Property Act 1900 --a reference to the fee prescribed under that Act for the purposes of that paragraph, or

(b) in the case of land not subject to those provisions--a reference to the fee prescribed under the Conveyancing Act 1919 for the purposes of that paragraph.