New South Wales Consolidated Acts

LAND ACQUISITION (JUST TERMS COMPENSATION) ACT 1991 - SECT 71A

71A Land not required for acquired purpose to be first offered to former owner

(1) This section applies to land:

(a) that has been acquired by an authority of the State (being an acquisition to which this Act applied as referred to in section 5), and

(b) that the authority proposes to dispose of because the land is no longer required for the public purpose for which it was acquired.

(2) The authority must, if practicable, first offer the land for sale to the former owner at the market value of the land at the time the offer is made if:

(a) not more than 10 years has elapsed since the acquisition, and

(b) the authority has not made substantial improvements to the land, and

(c) the land is not Crown land, and

(d) the land is not proposed to be disposed of to another authority of the State for a public purpose.

(3) For the purposes of this section, land is no longer required for the public purpose for which it was acquired if:

(a) the land has not been used and is no longer proposed to be used for the public purpose for which it was acquired, or

(b) the regulations otherwise provide that the land is no longer required for the public purpose for which it was acquired.

(4) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to offers for sale, the review of decisions of authorities and other matters arising under this section.

(5) A person dealing with an authority of the State is not concerned to inquire whether this section has been complied with, and the vesting in a person of an interest in land is not affected by any contravention of this section.

(6) In this section:

"former owner" of land means:

(a) if the land was acquired by the authority of the State from only one individual who is still alive or from only one corporation that is still in existence--that individual or corporation, or

(b) in any other case--such persons (if any) that the authority of the State considers, having regard to the interests in the land that existed immediately before the land was acquired, should be fairly entitled to the benefit of this section.

"market value" of land at any time means the amount that would be paid for the land if it is sold by a willing but not anxious seller to a willing but not anxious buyer.