Northern Territory Consolidated Acts

HERITAGE CONSERVATION ACT - SECT 26

(1) As soon as practicable after receiving a recommendation under section 24, but in any case not later than 90 days, the Minister shall:

(a) by notice in the Gazette , declare the place (or part of the place) or object to which the recommendation relates, to be a heritage place or heritage object or, in the case of an object associated with a heritage place but which is not itself declared to be a heritage object, to be part of the Northern Territory heritage;

(b) by notice in writing to the Council, refuse to make such a declaration, giving his or her reasons for so refusing; or

(c) subject to subsection (4), refer the matter back to the Council with the request that the Council provide further information or make a further recommendation relating to the matter or a suggested variation and giving the Minister's reasons for requiring the further information or recommendation.

(2) Where under subsection (1)(a) the Minister declares a place (or part of a place) or object to be a heritage place or heritage object, he or she shall, as soon as practicable after so doing, cause a copy of the notice of declaration:

(a) to be sent by post to the owner and occupier of the place and to each person shown in the Register kept under the Land Title Act as having or claiming an interest in land comprising the place, or the owner and person in lawful possession of the object, as the case may be, at the last known address of that owner, occupier or person; and

(b) to be published in at least one newspaper circulating in that part of the Territory in which the place is situated or object located.

(3) Where a matter is referred back to the Council under subsection (1)(c), the Council shall provide the further information or make the further recommendation accordingly and, in the case of a further recommendation, subsections (1) and (4) apply as if it were the first recommendation made under section 24.

(4) A matter the subject of a recommendation under section 24 may be referred back to the Council under subsection (1)(c) twice only before the Minister must take an action referred to in subsection (1)(a) or (b).

(5) Where the Minister declares a place to be a heritage place under subsection (1)(a) and, to the Minister's knowledge, the place is or contains a sacred site within the meaning of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 of the Commonwealth, that fact shall be recorded in the Register.