Pastrello v Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales

In compulsory acquisition compensation proceedings, a dispossessed owner who succeeds in recovering compensation above what was offered but fails on a significant issue (such as business impact) will generally be entitled to full costs. A special order apportioning costs requires a clearly defined and separate issue upon which the applicant totally failed, and the arguments advanced must have been frivolous or outside the contemplation of the legislation. An acquiring authority cannot rely on a pre-acquisition offer to resist costs where the offer was not maintained after acquisition.