NSW Crown Lands Legislation White Paper Released

Tuesday 15 April 2014 @ 10.06 a.m. | Legal Research

The NSW State Government has released a "Crown Lands Legislation White Paper" that proposes a series of dramatic reforms to the way Crown land is managed. The proposals involve redrafting legislation and a number of crucial changes to the current system of management.  The White Paper is the latest step in the Crown Land Management Review, which has been running since June 2012. 

Land Affected

The White Paper only covers Crown land that is currently administered by the NSW Trade & Investment Crown Lands division, so does not include national parks and state forests.  It does include Crown lands under lease, Crown reserves and land within the Crown public roads network, among other areas.  This Crown Land comprises about 42 per cent of NSW.

Legislative Change

The proposed changes include the repeal of the following eight Acts, which a Government media release described as “outdated and overlapping legislation” which is “stifling Crown land management”:

  • Crown Lands Act 1989
  • Crown Lands (Continued Tenures) Act 1989
  • Western Lands Act 1901
  • Commons Management Act 1989
  • Trustees of Schools of Arts Enabling Act 1902
  • Public Reserves Management Fund Act 1987 
  • Wentworth Irrigation Act 1890
  • Hay Irrigation Act 1902

 The Acts would then be replaced by a single piece of legislation.

Management

Currently, NSW has a ‘three-tier’ management structure, which requires the formation of ‘reserve trusts' charged with the care, control and management of the land.  The White Paper recommends the removal of this requirement, which was introduced in 1989 to provide some protection from liability for individual reserve managers.  It is proposed that new Crown reserve managers become incorporated to achieve the same level of protection.  This would result in a simplified ‘two-tier’ structure, with Crown reserves being directly controlled by reserve trust managers.

Rent

Another significant proposal is “adopting market rent as the default position” for Crown land tenures, although rebates and waivers could be applied.  For example, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that the government says it has “’no intention’ of forcing organisations such as surf clubs and sporting clubs to pay market rates”.  The proposal would also mean existing tenure holders who currently pay less than the statutory minimum rate ($454 per annum) would have a transitional period of five years to move to paying the minimum.

The proposed new legislation would also give the government power to issue a licence requiring payments for the use of land where a user has not applied for one but has been using Crown land without permission, which the government says will “create equity” by ensuring that “all users of Crown land pay equally for the privilege”.

Valuation

The Sydney Morning Herald has also reported that the government would be able to use “opportunity cost” to consider whether land should be kept for community use.  The "Crown Lands Management Review Report 2013" used Hyde Park in Sydney as an example:

"Hyde Park in Sydney is valued by the NSW Valuer General at around $19 million, which represents the ‘fair value’ of the land based on current use. If the land were valued as land available for commercial development rather than open space, the value might be closer to $300 million. The opportunity cost of the current use is:

  • the foregone return on the $300 million ‘sale’ value plus
  • the benefit of an alternative investment (such as a hospital or school) minus
  • additional costs (such as loss of amenity)

The opportunity cost provides guidance on the value the community places on open spaces. An additional opportunity cost could also be the failure to realise a benefit of increasing economic productivity from the land."

Next Steps

The White Paper includes a number of other detailed proposals, including the repeal of minor legislation, greater flexibility for Western Land leases, abolishing land assessment requirements and stronger enforcement provisions.  For more information see the full White Paper, available from www.crownland.nsw.gov.au.  Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner has said that if the Government proceeds with the reforms, “a pilot program with local government and as stocktake of the Crown estate” could start as soon as the end of this year.  

Submissions to the White Paper will be open until 20 June 2014.

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