Resumption / Acquisition Law

The Government is vested with powers under State acquisition laws to acquire land - by voluntary agreement where possible, or where such agreement cannot be reached - by compulsory acquisition.

There are many purposes for which the Government might require privately owned / leased land:

• Transportation (aviation / beacons / bridges / docks / dockyards / ferries / harbours and harbour works / jetties / landing places / lighthouses / locks / vehicle parking / railways / roads / tramways / weighbridges / wharves).
• Environment (protected areas under the Nature Conservation Act / soil conservation / conservation of koalas under the Sustainable Planning Act / protection of the seashore and land adjoining the seashore).
• Educational and cultural facilities (colleges / kindergartens / libraries / museums / State educational institutions or other schools / TAFE institutes / universities or other higher education institutions / other educational establishments).
• Health services (ambulance services / health facilities, including health centres, community health centres and health clinics / hospitals and services related to the operation of hospitals / community residential facilities, including boarding houses, refuges, aged care facilities and facilities for people with a disability, social disadvantage or mental illness).
• Natural resources (gravel and sand pits / quarries).
• Recreation (botanical or other gardens / gymnasiums / markets / parks / public meetings / public music / racecourses / recreation grounds / showgrounds / swimming pools).
• Water (aqueducts / bore drains / bores / canals / dams, weirs or other works for the conservation or reticulation of water / drainage / flood gates or flood warnings / flood prevention or flood mitigation / fords / pumps / quays / reservoirs / wells).
• Primary production (experimental farms / forestry (including afforestation, silviculture, protection of forests and forest products, harvesting, transporting, milling, preparing, treating or marketing forest products, access to or for the purposes of forests, acquisition of forests and forest products and related purposes).
• Law enforcement (corrective service facilities / detention centres / police / watchhouses).
• Urban planning (civic centres or squares / setting apart, subdividing, reclaiming, alienating, taking up, occupying or leasing any unallocated State land, or dealing with unallocated State land in any way in which it may be dealt with under the Land Act).
• Sanitation (septic tanks / sewage farms and disposal works and depots / sewerage / sewers / waste management facilities, including refuse tips and refuse transfer stations).
• Works, construction and facilities (buildings / caravan parks / cemeteries or crematories / departmental and official purposes / electrical works / fire stations / pounds / works for the conservation of hydraulic or other power / works for any public works / works for the construction or erection of any public).
• Non-profit / not-for-profit organisations (non-profit or not-for-profit organisations, including a charity, charitable institution, public benevolent institution, charitable fund and income tax exempt fund).

Emanate has many years of experience in each of the acquisitions detailed above. Recently, Emanate has been integral in negotiations on behalf of both private landowners and Constructing Authorities:

• Connors River Dam and Pipeline Project.
• Townsville Port Access Corridor.
• Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, Rowes Bay.
• State Departments (Main Roads) and private landowners - relocation of service stations, highways, shops, hotels.
• Local Council - acquisitions for sewerage pumps.
• Public companies (Ergon) and private landowners - powerline easements.
• Mass infrastructure transit corridors.
• Burdekin resumptions as part of the Burdekin Water Relocation Scheme.

If you are concerned about a rail corridor, electrical powerline, water pipeline, gas pipeline, dam, main road, telecommunications line, mass transit infrastructure corridor, sewerage pump station or other public infrastructure on your land then we would be pleased to arrange a meeting with you to discuss the practical implications of the proposed operations on you, your family and business, and delivery of your lawful entitlements (access / compensation) to an outcome that suits you.

The investigation, construction and development of public infrastructure on or through your land will have many practical impacts, including general disruption, and in many cases, losses to business operations. Often the development will require a private landowner to relocate to a replacement property.

Emanate keeps up to date with all legislative amendments regarding acquisition laws. Emanate can assist in claiming lawful entitlements should the State require the whole, or a portion of private land for public infrastructure.

Emanate works alongside specialist consultants experienced in resumption actions, such as valuers, accountants and agronomists to assist in providing advice that ensures the ultimate outcome for you.