New South Wales Bills Explanatory Notes New South Wales Bills Explanatory Notes[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
CROWN AND OTHER ROADS BILL 1990
NEW SOUTH WALES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This Explanatory Note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament)
The Miscellaneous Acts (Crown and Other Roads) Amendment Bill 1990 is
cognate with this Bill.
The object of this Bill is to consolidate, with amendments, the provisions of the
Public Roads Act 1902. The Bill:
(a) prescribes a simpler and more effective procedure for dealing with
applications to open new roads;
(b) includes more comprehensive compensation provisions in respect of land
acquired for a new road;
(c) confers additional rights on persons who apply for the opening of new roads,
in particular the right to be heard at a hearing to determine compensation;
(d) provides for the regulation of controlled Crown roads;
prescribes a simpler procedure for the temporary closure of a road where the
(c) road has become dangerous as a result of some emergency, and
(f) generally updates the provisions of existing legislation relating to public
roads and Crown roads.
PART 1 - PRELIMINARY
Clause 1 specifies the short title of the proposed Act.
Clause 2 provides for the proposed Act to commence on a day or days to be
appointed by proclamation.
Clause 3 defines certain expressions used in the proposed Act. Among the
expressions defined are "acquired" (which means "resumed and "withdrawn"),
"compensating authority", "Crown road", "interest" (in relation to land), "market
value", "prescribed l a n d (which is defined as any Crown land, other than unoccupied
PART 2 - OPENING OF ROADS
Division 1 - Prerequisites to the opening of a road
Clause 4 will empower the Minister to open a new road but only in accordancc
with the proposed Part 2.
Clause 5 sets out the procedure to be followed when applying to the Minister to
open a new road.
Clause 6 will require the Minister to publish in the Gazette a notice of any
proposal to open a new road over prescribed land and to publish in a local newspaper
an advertisement drawing attention to the notice.
Clause 7 provides for the opening of roads over prescribed land. The clause
provides for the acquisition of prescribed land for the purposes of a road to be
effected by notice published in the Gazette. In publishing such a notice, the Minister
must specify whether the road concerned is to be a public road or a Crown road.
Clause 8 will restrict the exercise of the power to open a road over prescribed land.
Among the restrictions that will be imposed is a restriction preventing a road from
being opened under proposed section 7 unless the compensation to be provided in
respect of the proposed acquisition has been agreed to or, if not agreed to, has been
determined by the local land board concerned. (See proposed Division 2 of Part 2.)
Clause 9 specifies the effect of acquiring an interest in land for the purposes o f
a road. An interest in land acquired in accordance with proposed section 7 is to be
held by the Crown free from all trusts, reservations, obligations and interests.
Clause 10 will enable the Minister to declare unoccupied Crown land to be a
public road or a Grown road.
Clause 11 will enable the Minister to declare any Crown road to be dedicated as
a public road.
Clause 12 provides that, whenever the Minister declares land to be acquired for
the purposes of a road, or declares a road to be a public road o r a Crown road, the
Minister may limit the operation of the notice by which the declaration is made to
a specified stratum of land or airspace.
Division 2 - Compensation
Clause 13 provides that a person from whom an interest in land is to be acquired
under proposed Part 2 is to be entitled to receive compensation in accordance with
Division 2 of that Part. Compensation will normally be provided in the form of
money but in certain circumstances it may be provided in the form of an interest in
land or partly in the form of an interest in land and partly in the form of money..
2
Crown and Other Roads 1990
Clause 14 lays down the procedure for making a claim for compensation.
Clause 15 will entitled compensation rights in respect of certain interests in land
to be waived in certain cases.
Clause 16 will require the relevant compensating authority to accept a claim for
compensation in principle or to reject the claim. If a claim is rejected, the reasons
or the rejection must be stated.
Clause 17 will entitle a person whose claim for compensation is rejected to appeal
to the Land and Environment Court against the rejection of the claim.
Clause 18 provides that in the first instance an amount of compensation is to be
determined by agreement between the claimant and the relevant compensating
authority.
Clause 19 provides for the determination of claims for compensation by the local
Iand board if the parties are unable to reach agreement.
Clause 20 provides for an agreement or determination under proposed Division
2 to lapse if the interest in the land concerned is not acquired within 90 days after
the agreement is entered into or the determination is made. However, a claimant will
be able to ratify such an agreement or determination provided that the agreement
or determination has not lapsed more than 1 2 months previously.
Clause 21 specifies the principles for assessing compensation. A person is to be
entitled to such amount as will justly compensate the person for the interest in land
acquired from the person for the purposes of a road, taking into account all relevant
factors. The relevant factors are set out in the clause.
Clause 22 provides that compensation is not payable for any loss arising from any
potential purpose for which the acquired interest could be used.
Clause 23 provides a mechanism for determining the value of an interest in land
for which there is no market value.
Clause 24 makes special provision where the interest acquired for a road is
affected by a planning restriction.
Clause 25 specifies the factors that are to be disregarded in assessing
compensation. For instance, any increase in the value of land that is attributable to
its use by the public as a road is to be disregarded.
Clause 26 provides that, if a mortgage interest is acquired under proposed Part
2, the mortgagee is to retain any rights that the mortgagee has against the mortgagor
as regards that part of the mortgage debt that remains outstanding.
Clause 27 provides for interest to accrue in respect of monetary compensation
that is not paid at the appropriate time.
Clause 28 provides that compensation is not to be made for mines or minerals in
land acquired for a road.
Clause 29 provides that a receipt for compensation provided for an interest in land
acquired under proposed Part 2 will discharge the relevant compensating authority
from all claims in respect of the acquisition of that interest.
3
Clause 31 makes special provision for cases where the compensation to be
provided is in the form of a leasehold interest.
Clause 32 provides for the payment of an amount of compensation t o the
Treasurer if the identity or whereabouts of the person entitled to the compensation
is unknown.
Division 3 - Supplementary provisions
Clause 33 deals with the disposal of surplus land. O n some occasions more land
may be acquired for a road than is required for the road or for providing
compensation. The clause specifies how the surplus land is to be dealt with or
disposed of.
Clause 34 sets out the rights of the public with respect to a Crown road.
Clause 35 makes it clear that Part 9 of the Local Government Act 1919 applies
to any land or road declared to be a public road by virtue of proposed section 7 , 1 0
o r 11.
Clause 34 makes it clear that a Crown road is to continue to be Crown land.
PART 3 - RE-MARKING, RE-ALIGNMENT AND ALTERATION
OF ROADS
Clause 37 provides that the proposed Part 3 is not to apply to classified roads
within the meaning of the State Roads Act 1986.
Clause 38 empowers the Minister to have a road re-marked in substantially the
same position as it was before whenever the position and boundaries of the road
cannot be identified because of the absence or loss of survey marks. The clause
further provides that, where the re-marking is carried out on the application of a
person, the cost of re-marking is to be borne by the applicant.
Clause 39 will require the Minister to publish in the Gazette a notice relating to
the re-marking of a road in accordance with proposed section 38.
Clause 40 will empower the Minister to cause surveys to be carried out and a plan
to be prepared for the purposes of defining the boundaries of a road, re-marking or
altering the width and position of the carriageway and footways, or the boundaries,
of a road or re-aligning a public road.
Clause 41 will empower the Minister to rescind or vary a re-alignment effected
under proposed section 40.
4
Crown and Other Roads 1990
PART 4 - CLOSURE OF ROADS
Clause 42 deals with the Minister's powers to close a road.
Clause 43 will enable any person to apply to the Minister for the closure of a road.
The clause also sets out the procedure for making such an application.
Clause 44 will require the Minister to publish in the Gazette a notice giving details
of a proposal to close a road and inviting interested persons to lodge objections to
the proposal.
Clause 45 sets out the procedure for formally closing a road and provides that, on
publication in the Gazette of a closure notice, the right of the public to use the road
as a public thoroughfare or public way will be terminated.
Clause 46 provides for the disposal of land that was formerly included in a road
that has been closed. The clause also provides for the value of a closed road to be
determined. Normally a closed road will be disposed of at its market value or at an
agreed rent.
Clause 47 will enable the Minister to close a Crown road temporarily, for any
reason that he or she considers appropriate, for up to 1 2 months by publishing in the
Gazette a temporary closure order.
Clause 48 will enable the Minister to make an order temporarily closing a Crown
road without notice in the case of an emergency involving danger to the public.
Clause 49 provides that, whenever the Minister proposes to declare a road to be
closed, the Minister may limit the operation of the notice by which the declaration
is made to a specified stratum of land or airspace.
PART 5 - REGULATION OF CROWN ROADS
Clause 50 will enable the Minister, by order published in the Gazette, to declare
any specified Crown road to be a controlled Crown road. Such an order will be able
to specify prohibitions, restrictions or conditions with respect to the use of the road.
Clause 51 will empower the Minister to vary the prohibitions, restrictions or
conditions that are applicable to a controlled Crown road.
Clause 52 will make it an offence to contravene a prohibition, restriction or
condition applicable to a controlled Crown road.
Clause 53 will enable regulations to be made under the proposed Act which
include provisions with respect to the use of controlled Crown roads.
PART 6 - LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Division 1 - Offences
Clause 54 will make it an offence for a person to obstruct an authorised person
who is exercising a power conferred by proposed section 66 (Power of authorised
persons to enter land for the purposes of this Act).
5
Clause 56 provides for offences under the proposed Act or any regulations in force
under that Act to be dealt with by a Local Court constituted by a Magistrate sitting
alone.
Clause 57 provides that, if a corporation commits a contravention of the proposed
Act or any regulations in force under that Act, a director or person concerned in the
management of the corporation who knowingly authorised or permitted the
contravention is to be guilty of an offence.
Division 2 - Appeals etc. to the Land and
Environment Court
Clause 58 defines "decision" for the purposes of proposed Division 2 of Part 6.
Clause 59 will enable parties to proceedings before a local land board under the
proposed Act to appeal to the Land and Environment Court against a decision of
the local land board.
Clause 60 will enable a local land board to refer matters to the Land and
Environment Court.
Clause 61 prescribes the procedure for lodging appeals under the proposed Act.
Clause 62 specifies the powers of the Land and Environment Court with respect
to the hearing and determination of appeals under proposed section 59 and any
matters referred to it by a local land board under proposed section 60.
Division 3 - Other matters
Clause 63 provides that the Crown is not to be liable for injury or damage
attributable to the alignment or re-alignment of a road.
Clause 64 will enable the appropriate roads authority (i.e. the Minister, the local
authority or the Roads and Traffic Authority) to bring proceedings to recover the
cost of repairing a road that a person has damaged or of removing an obstruction
that a person had placed on the road.
PART 7 - MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Clause 65 makes it clear that a disposal of land under the proposed Act will not
include any minerals in the land.
Clause 66 will empower an authorised person to enter land to enable surveys and
other functions to be carried out for the purposes of the proposed Act. (The
expression "authorised person" is defined in proposed section 3 ( l ) . )
6
Clause 68 will empower the Minister to refer to the local land board for inquiry
and report disputes relating to the opening or closing of roads under the proposed
Act or to the administration of that Act.
Clause 69 will enable the Minister to delegate the Minister's functions under the
proposed Act.
Clause 70 provides for a copy of the Gazette containing an order or a notice
published in the Gazette for the purposes of the proposed Act to be conclusive
evidence as to the regularity of everything done in relation to the publication of that
order or notice.
Clause 71 will empower the Minister to correct defective orders and notices.
Clause 72 will empower the Minister to include more than one matter in the same
order or Gazette notice for the purposes of the proposed Act.
Clause 73 provides for the service of notices for the purposes of the proposed Act.
Clause 74 provides that, in a case where the proposed Act, or an advertisement
or notice published or served under the proposed Act, requires or permits a
document to be lodged with the Minister or at a specified office of the Department
of Lands, it is sufficient to lodge the document at any office of the Department of
Lands.
Clause 75 will empower the Governor-in-Council to make regulations for the
purposes of the proposed Act.
Clause 76 provides for the proposed Act to bind the Crown.
Clause 77 provides for the repeal of the Public Roads Act 1902 and other Acts
specified in Schedule 1 . The clause also provides for the repeal of regulations made
under those Acts.
Clause 78 will give effect to Schedule 2, which contains savings and transitional
provisions.
Schedule 1 specifies the Acts that are to be repealed by proposed section 77.
Schedule 2 contains savings and transitional provisions consequent on the
proposed repeal of the Public Roads Act 1902. For example, an application under
that Act for the opening of a road and not disposed of before the commencement
of proposed section 5 will not be dealt with under the proposed Act but will be dealt
with under the Public Roads Act 1902 as if that Act had not been repealed.
7