Perilya Broken Hill Ltd v Valuer-General [2015] NSWCA 400

Perilya Broken Hill Ltd v Valuer-General [2015] NSWCA 400

Gollan remained binding on the Court of Appeal and required the valuation under s 6A of the Valuation of Land Act 1916 (NSW) to proceed by valuing a hypothetical absolute or pure fee simple, disregarding Crown reservations affecting Perilya's actual title. The reservations of minerals were particular qualifications on title, not laws of general application to be taken into account, so land value was to be determined on the assumption that the minerals were privately owned. The refusal to admit Perilya's late mining information evidence was a discretionary case management decision based on the procedural history and did not disclose any operative error of law.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
16 December 2015
Procedural Posture
Appeal From Class 3 Proceedings in the Land and Environment Court Under S 57(1) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (nsw), Confined to Questions of Law / Court of Appeal Appeal From Interlocutory Decisions Whose Combined Effect Was Dismissal of Proceedings Challenging the Valuer General's Valuation
Outcome
Appeal dismissed, with costs.
Legal Topics
['late Application to Adduce Further Evidence' 'valuation of Hypothetical Fee Simple' 'publicly Owned Minerals Reserved to the Crown' 'distinction Between Laws of General Application and Qualifications on Title' 'precedential Authority of Privy Council Decisions']
['practice and Procedure' 'valuation of Land' 'mining Law' 'precedent'] ['late Application to Adduce Further Evidence' 'valuation of Hypothetical Fee Simple' 'publicly Owned Minerals Reserved to the Crown' 'distinction Between Laws of General Application and Qualifications on Title' 'precedential Authority of Privy Council Decisions']

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Procedural Posture

Appeal From Class 3 Proceedings in the Land and Environment Court Under S 57(1) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (nsw), Confined to Questions of Law / Court of Appeal Appeal From Interlocutory Decisions Whose Combined Effect Was Dismissal of Proceedings Challenging the Valuer General's Valuation

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether under s 6A of the Valuation of Land Act 1916 (NSW) the land value of land containing publicly owned minerals is to be determined on the assumption that the minerals are privately owned.' 'Whether Gollan v Randwick Municipal Council [1961] AC 82 remained authoritative and required Crown reservations to be ignored in valuing the hypothetical fee simple.' "Whether the Crown lands legislation reserving minerals was a law of general application affecting value or a qualification on Perilya's title to be disregarded." "Whether the primary judge made an error of law in refusing Perilya's late application to rely on further evidence concerning mining information."]

Ratio Decidendi

Gollan remained binding on the Court of Appeal and required the valuation under s 6A of the Valuation of Land Act 1916 (NSW) to proceed by valuing a hypothetical absolute or pure fee simple, disregarding Crown reservations affecting Perilya's actual title. The reservations of minerals were particular qualifications on title, not laws of general application to be taken into account, so land value was to be determined on the assumption that the minerals were privately owned. The refusal to admit Perilya's late mining information evidence was a discretionary case management decision based on the procedural history and did not disclose any operative error of law.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed, with costs.

Orders

  • ['Appeal dismissed, with costs.']