Parliamentary Speeches
PACIFIC HIGHWAY UPGRADE ( 28/09/2006)
Mr DONALD PAGE (Ballina—Deputy Leader of The Nationals) [4.32 p.m.]: Two days ago the New South Wales Labor Government announced the preferred route for the Tintenbar to Ewingsdale section of the Pacific Highway upgrade, which is in the Ballina electorate. The selected route will directly impact on a number of residents and property owners. Residents whose properties are affected by the preferred route are now in limbo until the Government offers to purchase their properties. I draw the Government's attention to the need to ensure those affected people are duly compensated in a compassionate and timely fashion.
The preferred route for the Tintenbar to Ewingsdale upgrade of the Pacific Highway is a combination of options A, B, A1, B1, A2 and T2, and generally runs along the existing highway. It will cut through 63 properties, obviously some more than others. Under the current just terms legislation, there is no obligation on the part of the State Government to compensate people affected by the preferred route until the Minister for Planning gives final approval. This ministerial approval can take several years because an environmental impact statement [EIS] must be prepared on the preferred route, submissions must be made on that EIS, and a representations report must be prepared on the submissions received on the EIS, which includes comments from other government agencies. All of this could take years before the Minister for Planning can give approval.
In the meantime those affected are effectively entombed in their properties. No one wants to buy their properties, but they cannot force the Roads and Traffic Authority [RTA] to acquire them until ministerial approval has been given. It is important that people directly affected be able to get on with their lives. In yesterday's Northern Star newspaper, several of the 63 residents directly affected by the preferred route put forward their views on their future. Bill Weinert, 61, of Knockrow, will lose his Christmas bush farm, processing sheds and his house to the preferred route. He stated:
Why would I put any money into this place when I don't know when I'll be evicted?
Macadamia farmers Cliff and Greg James, also of Knockrow, will lose more than 20 per cent of their nut trees. Greg said:
We'll need a lot of compensation to cover our losses.
Newrybar macadamia farmer Phil Murray will see the new road run directly through his property, rendering half of it useless. He said:
Now I just want to get rid of it, but I'm still in the dark on where I go from here.
When the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Bill was introduced in 1991, its intentions were fourfold: to provide a statutory guarantee that the Government would not pay less than market value for affected land; to establish a uniform system for the compulsory acquisition of private property; to ensure all landowners receive fair, consistent and timely treatment whenever Government compulsorily acquires their land; and to provide a mechanism by which owners can compel acquisition where their land is affected by certain types of blight and where hardship is demonstrated.
Under current legislation the RTA is not required to acquire properties on the preferred route because these routes are not designated land; that is, the route has not been finalised and ministerial approval has not been given. Consequently the owners of such properties are not eligible for consideration to have them properly acquired under the owner-initiated acquisition provisions of the Act. The RTA will consider a request for acquisition under these conditions only if the owner can demonstrate hardship and funds are deemed available. Regardless of these two conditions, the acquisition is ultimately at the discretion of the RTA. This is a totally unsatisfactory situation.
I believe that in the interests of justice the legislation should be amended so that landowners can access support from the legislation after the preferred route has been identified within a reasonable time if that is their wish. To identify a preferred route without the firm intention of commencing construction in the near future puts hundreds of landowners into limbo along the Pacific Highway between Hexham and the Queensland border. The Government has not indicated that construction money is available for those preferred routes.
The just terms legislation should be amended to allow compensation to be delivered within a reasonable timeframe so affected residents are not entombed for years in their properties awaiting relief. Moreover, residents whose properties are not acquired but who are nevertheless affected by the preferred route are generally not eligible for compensation. That issue should be addressed because the indirect effects of the highway upgrade such as noise and emissions must be taken into account and compensation duly allocated. This is more problematic to implement, but proper consideration should be given to those most affected but whose property is not actually acquired.
