Don’t get run over !
With the growth in the population numbers in Auckland seemingly continuing unabated, there increases the stress on the City’s infrastructure such as roading. The response has been to earmark for funding an increased network of motorways. This new infrastructure if proceeded with will require the acquisition of land.
Whilst this is undoubtedly a political “hot potato”, the legal context in which such acquisition will be undertaken (if it proceeds) is the Public Works Act.
It is this Act that contains the powers by which land may be compulsorily required for public works (such as roading). The Act does not authorise the project (that falls to be considered under other legislation such as the Local Government and Resource Management Acts), rather it provides the mechanism for the acquisition of land and the assessment of the compensation to be paid.
It is important for affected land owners to recognise that most Public Works land acquisition happens pursuant to negotiation rather than pursuant to compulsory order.
Negotiation can focus on the amount of land to be required and whether planning can be altered. There is often more than one way to solve a land acquisition issue and landowners should not necessarily accept the first proposal made as the only acquisition solution possible.
The negotiation will also focus on the compensation to be paid to the land owner – which negotiation will be underpinned by the approach taken under the Act. The law is reasonably well settled but not without its complications.
The Act provides for full compensation so that the land owner is left in no better or worse position than before the public work was commenced. Compensation however is not limited to the value of the land to be taken.
The land owner may also be compensated for:
Land owners should also be aware that there may exist a right to compensation under the Act even when no land is taken.
It is also of practical significance for land owners to realise that under s66 of the Act, the costs of solicitors and registered valuers will generally be met by the acquiring authority.
Put another way, it should cost nothing to participate in actively negotiating with the acquiring authority over these issues.
Thus a negotiated approach may well deliver an outcome that is less injurious to the land to be acquired or the adjacent land and with compensation maximised to affected land owners. It may also involve less stress and delay than in a contested compulsory purchase procedure.
For further inquiries, contact Rob Coltman.
